Emails say Health NZ planned to axe mental health facility before consultation

Health New Zealand intended to vacate a central Auckland building occupied by a mental health service facing closure by the end of January, correspondence shows.

Labour's mental health spokeswoman, Ingrid Leary, said this shows officials originally intended to axe the service last year, but Health NZ said this isn't the case.

It has proposed closing Rauaroha Segar House, a publicly funded intensive programme for people with long-standing or chronic mental health problems.

It's consulting on the proposal now, as staff rally to keep a service they and many patients say is unique.

The programme at Segar House mixes individual therapy with group work, and it runs from a building on Khyber Pass Road.

Correspondence obtained from Health NZ by Leary shows officials gave the building owner formal notice on 16 December of its intention to vacate the building by 31 January.

Another email showed the lease was previously slated to run out on 31 December.

There is no mention in the correspondence of possible alternative venues for the programme.

By 20 December, Health NZ's position had changed.

"I would like to start by firstly apologising profusely for what I am about to write," Health NZ's real estate and space manager for its northern region, Harshna Mistry, wrote to a representative of the building owner.

"It is wildly unusual for us to be this indecisive, and I can only hope you can be understanding given the current financial and organisational challenges we as an organisation face.

"My seniors have contacted me today to request if we can actually remain in the Khyber Pass property until 1 June 2025. It seems the service are not as prepared to vacate as we would have hoped.

"I am truly sorry for the flip-flopping. I appreciate this is frustrating for you (I share this sentiment)."

Health NZ has confirmed to RNZ that the lease for the building now runs until 30 September, having since been extended again.

Leary said the emails she obtained were revealing.

"It's very clear from the official documents that the plan was to shut down Segar House before the end of last year or at the end of January at the latest, and there was no intention or open-mindedness about letting the service continue," she said.

"It's very clear from the documents that the cost of the lease was a significant factor in their thinking."

Health NZ denies this.

RNZ has asked Health NZ if it intended to shut the service by January and, if not, what efforts it had made last year to search for an alternative venue for it.

Its group director of operations for Te Toka Tumai Auckland Michael Shepherd said lease renewal wasn't a factor in its decision making.

"We had not made any decisions about the service or committed to a change process last year," he said.

"We were considering the range of ways we deliver our specialist mental health services in order to provide the best healthcare to our community, including the best value for taxpayer funding.

"We therefore extended the lease for six months to allow for further work to occur. But no decisions had been made.

"We assessed some other options, including internal and external facilities, to confirm we had suitable options to be able to continue the service. These did not need to be progressed because we were able to extend the lease."

Staff were told about the closure proposal in early April, according to a document seen by RNZ.

Leary said if there was a move to close the service earlier and staff weren't told, then that showed bad faith when entering the present round of consultation.

The tone of the emails was unusual, and it showed the chaos caused by cuts to the health budget, she said.

Just days before confirming the lease flip-flop, Mistry wrote to the building representative that extending the lease would be unlikely.

"As you are aware Te Whatu Ora is in a significant period of flux at the moment and I apologise for the impact this is having on our external partners like yourselves.

"I have discussed the details of the lease with my superiors. The appetite to absorb the necessary legal costs and go through the process of extending for a further six months is not something the organisation has funding for at this time."

An internal email between Health NZ officials in March this year speaks of further extensions to the lease, which have since happened.

"Recognising the lease and utilities cost approximately $165,000 per annum, we need to be confident the additional cost is essential," it said.

Earlier this week Shepherd said Health NZ was on 18 June informed the Khyber Pass building was being sold.

"A prospective buyer was scheduled to inspect the property on the same day. We informed the Rauaroha Segar House team about this on Wednesday morning [last week] by email."

rnz.co.nz