Staff from the Emergency Department (ED), the Mental Health, Addiction & Intellectual Disability Service (MHAIDS) and Kites Trust met with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey today as part of a new peer support service being rolled out to help people arriving in the ED with mental distress.
“Peer support specialists will provide a unique form of support because they’ve experienced mental health issues themselves and can empathise with individuals facing similar challenges,” MHAIDS’ Executive Clinical Director, Paul Oxnam, says. “As well as supporting people in the ED, they’ll be able to connect them to community services if needed. There’s growing evidence of the positive impact peer support specialists have on improving outcomes for people with mental health and addiction issues who present at ED, as well as in community settings.”
“We’re excited to be partnering with Kites Trust – a well-established provider of peer support specialists with a long history of delivering innovative peer-led initiatives in the Wellington region – to deliver this service.”
The peer support specialists and ED staff are currently undergoing training to set this initiative up for success and ensure a positive environment for the peers to work in. The specialists will be working in pairs in the ED during business hours, Monday to Friday.
Wellington ED is the third hospital to provide the service after it was launched at Middlemore Hospital in September 2024 and rolled out at Auckland City Hospital in January 2025. The service will be extended to Christchurch and Waikato EDs in the coming months and three further locations will be announced soon.
“I’m very pleased this service is now being rolled out to Wellington ED and I have no doubt it’ll make a real difference,” Minister Doocey says. “The hospital services a large community across the region, and ensuring we have peer support specialists available will mean extra support for people and their families.”
