The New Zealand Ministry of Health has been instructed to provide more information regarding a drastically edited and delayed mental health report.
Public Service Commissioner, Peter Hughes (pictured) said he was looking into the matter after being asked to investigate by Member of Parliament, Matt Doocey.
It comes as the former Government Statistician for New Zealand added his voice to those complaining about the report, produced by the Office of Mental Health and Addictions.
It was revealed that the report was readied in 2018, but not released until March this year.
The Report was delayed as officials at the Ministry of Health fought over how much data to include.
At one point an official worried there was “a lot of data and negative statistics” without sufficient context.
At another time officials speculated about ending the report itself, as the Ministry was not legally required to produce it.
It was eventually released without several key data points such as wait times, access to services, and suicides.
However, the Ministry has maintained that this data was available in other formats elsewhere.
Mr Doocey, the National Party’s Spokesperson for Mental Health, wrote to Mr Hughes asking him to look into the matter in order to maintain public confidence in the system.
“This need for public confidence is at its starkest when it comes to the interaction of the Public Service with vulnerable New Zealanders, such as in our mental health sector,” Mr Doocey wrote.
“A decision to remove information, or even discussion regarding removing information, from a regular report for the reason that the information includes negative statistics is deeply troubling,” he said.
Mr Doocey said a Public Service Commission inquiry could also clear up whether or not political influence from the Government had caused the redaction; nothing in the documents seen by journalists suggested this was the case.
Wellington, 16 April 2021
