Top mental health specialists warn the country needs to double the number of psychologists and psychiatrists to meet patient demand.
Practitioners say we need15 psychologists per 100,000 people to meet demand - which equates to 770 full-time workers.
But Te Whatu Ora estimates the public sector only employs about 350 at the moment - meaning at current levels people simply can't get the care they need.
The National Party said yesterday they would boost training across the sector, adding an additional 13 psychiatric registrar placements and doubling the number of clinical psychologists trained each year.
Morning Report producer Emma Ricketts has the story.
By Emma Ricketts of RNZ
Top mental health specialists warn that the number of psychologists and psychiatrists must double to meet patient demand.
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