Southern region

The southern region encompasses all of the South Island. The main centres in this region are Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Timaru, Nelson/Marlborough and Greymouth. Much of the region's population is based in rural areas.

There are considerable distances between each of the main centres, providing significant logistical challenges. The majority of people live on the east, north and south coasts. The west coast has the longest coastline but is sparsely populated compared to other districts. The centre of the South Island is dominated by high mountain ranges and hence is much less inhabited.

There are five district health boards (DHBs) which have responsibility for ensuring their population has access to mental health and addiction services. Several specialist services are provided regionally by Canterbury DHB and Southern DHB.

Southern Region Alliance Framework

"Better, sooner, more convenient health care"

This is a newly formed Alliance which is clinically led and chaired, representative of the whole health system and supported by strong management and analytical resource by the Alliance Leadership Team (ALT). The focus of this group is to provide strong clinical leadership and guidance, bringing together data and ideas on the needs of a defined population, leading to transformational service improvement, and identifying areas requiring redesign and innovation.

The South Island DHB Alliance framework supports South Island DHB collaboration through:

• An Alliance Board that sets the strategic focus, oversees and governs, and moniters overall performance of the Alliance
• An Alliance Leadership Team supported by the South Island GM’s, Planning and Funding Network that prioritises activity, allocates resources and moniters deliverables
• Strategic Planning and Integration team that will support an integrated approach linking the Service Level Alliances and workstreams to the South Island vision and identifying gaps, recognising national, regional and district priorities. The team will provide a strategic and integrated view that is broader than the current priority areas and incorporates the SI Health Services Plan development
• Annual workstreams or focus areas. CEO’s and Boards recognise the need for focussed effort to gain momentum in achieving collaborative outcomes

The alliance work streams are :

1. Cancer
2. Child Health
3. Health of Older People
4. Mental Health
5. Procurement
6. Information Technology

The Mental Health Service Alliance is clinically led, and made up of respresentatives from across the mental health sector.

The Mental Health Alliance developed workplan is focussed on priority areas across the continuum of Mental Health Services, with the expectation that collaborative planning and teamwork will enable the implementation of regional sustainable strategies to improve health outcomes, enabling all people with experience of mental illness and addiction to fully participate in society and in the everday life of their communities and whanau.

Key workforce development activity

Let’s get real

Below is a table summarising current Let’s get real implementation activity in the Southern region.

DHB overview

Below is a brief summary of each DHB in the southern region. The information is taken from their respective websites and their district annual plans (available from the DHB websites).

Nelson Marlborough DHB (NMDHB)

Leading the way to health conscious families

Situated in the north of the South Island, Nelson Marlborough DHB covers the three districts of Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough. The population is 134,500 of which 8 per cent are Maori, 15 per cent are over 65 years of age and 35 per cent live in rural settlements.

NMDHB funds a range of mental health services from primary mental health to acute inpatient facilities. Services are provided either directly by NMDHB, or by agencies contracted by NMDHB.

Canterbury DHB (CDHB)

To promote, enhance and facilitate the health and wellbeing of the people of the Canterbury district

With a population of 466,416, Canterbury DHB is the largest DHB in the South Island and receives close to half the population-based funding available to the region from the Ministry of Health. There are six districts covered by the CDHB - Christchurch City, Hurinui, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Ashburton and Kaikoura.

7.2 per cent of the population are Maori, with the tangata whenua being Ngai Tahu, Nga Puhi and Ngati Porou. Those identifying as Pacific take up 2.2 per cent of the population. The Asian population is around 6.1 per cent. Most of the people from these cultures live in the Christchurch City district.

A quarter of the overall population lives outside urban Christchurch with 7,000 people living in remote areas. 34 per cent per cent of people in Canterbury are under 25.

A wide range of mental health services are delivered by CDHB at a number of locations. Some of these services are regional and accessible to the whole southern region. Most of the community providers of mental health services are funded by the CDHB.

South Canterbury DHB (SCDHB)  

To enhance the health and independence of the people of South Canterbury

Half the 55,318 people in South Canterbury DHB area live rurally. The districts within the DHB's boundary are Timaru, Waimate and Mackenzie. Maori and Pacific together only make up 7 per cent of the population. 10,510 (19%) of people are older than 65 years of age.

Timaru is the hub for delivery of a range of mental health services. SCDHB provides a 15 bed inpatient unit, community mental health services for adults along with children and adolescents, and an alcohol and other drug service. SCDHB funds community organisations to provide other mental health services.

West Coast DHB (WCDHB)

To be the New Zealand centre of excellence for rural health services

The West Coast DHB has the lowest population density of any DHB in New Zealand. The overall population is 31,326 and spread throughout three districts - Westland, Grey and Buller. Maori make up 9 per cent of the population, with Pacific and Asian having 0.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

Each of the three districts has a community mental health team that delivers a range of services. Inpatient facilities are at Grey hospital in Greymouth. There are a few non-government organisations (NGOs) providing services to the community.

Southern DHB

To improve, promote and protect the health of our population

Otago and Southland DHBs merged to form the Southern DHB on 1 May 2010.
This new DHB covers a large area and includes the districts of Dunedin City, Invercargill City, Central Otago, Clutha, Gore, Queenstown, Southland and Waitaki.

Maori make up approximately 8 per cent of the total population, with the mana whenua being Ngai Tahu. Those identifying as Pacific represent a little over 1.3 per cent of the population.

Southern DHB will undergo a period of adjustment with this merger, however at present Otago and Southland operate distinct mental health and addiction services.

Dunedin is the hub for the coordination and delivery of a large range of mental health services to Otago. Comprehensive inpatient and community services are provided by the DHB. Many of the community services are delivered by a wide range of non government organisations.

Given the rural nature of Southland, many of the clinical mental health services are delivered by small community mental health teams. Inpatient services are provided at Southland hospital in Invercargill. A variety of non-government organisations work collaboratively with the Southland DHB to provide a comprehensive array of community services.

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