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Dr Peter McGeorge of the Mental Health Commission - Source: ONE News -
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The government is undergoing a review of access to mental health acute services.
Earlier this week ONE News reported the story of mentally ill teenager Emma Steenson being forced to spend three nights down in a police cell because she couldn't get professional care.
More Kiwis have contacted ONE News with similar problems when accessing help, including Invercargill resident Kevin Young.
He says Invercargill's Mental Health Unit has ignored his pleas for help and his mother Christine Wood is worried about him.
She says she has already been assaulted by her son, was forced to call police as a last resort and her son has now been charged.
"They don't listen to the family. There is quite a few of us in the same boat (who) have been told we are off the books," Wood says.
Steenson and Young are among many New Zealanders who don't meet the current criteria for cover under the mental health system.
Peter McGeorge of the Mental Health Commission agrees it is a problem.
"One of the things the Mental Health Commission wants to do is look at how problems with access have arisen&because we certainly have to do better," he says.
There has been a 100% increase in government funding for mental health care in the last 10 years yet the number of crisis beds for acute patients has halved.
The access problems have prompted the review and the Ministry of Health says the results are expected in the next six months.
