Short stay is a placement in a mental health residential recovery service that lasts anywhere from one night to two weeks.
These stays provide tāngata whai ora with short-term support if there is a decline in their mental health and they require a short period of additional support to improve wellbeing, reduce risk, or prevent admission to hospital.
Availability for short stay placements is dependent on current vacancies in long stay residential beds within the providers we work with, therefore cannot be planned for in advance.
Ahikāroa works with the clinical key worker to find suitable vacancies and options, and agree on the next steps required to support the short stay.
As every situation and case is unique, this is a flexible process, determined on a case-by-case basis and by the level of urgency.
How to access short stay services
Because short stays usually need to be arranged quickly, please call us on 0800 932 432 (instead of emailing) to discuss arrangements for your referral.
If access to a short stay is urgently needed, please phone the Ahikāroa coordination team on 0277510473.
If you require planned respite, please contact Mental Health NZ or DSL (for MHSOP).
If you require a crisis respite in Hamilton, please contact the CAHT team.
Eligibility for short stay
Referrals for short stay can be made for tāngata whai ora who:
- are receiving secondary mental health and addiction services from Waikato District Health Board (WDHB) or Hauora Waikato
- have been assessed as requiring a short stay in a mental health residential recovery service to improve wellbeing, reduce risk or prevent admission to hospital
- are aged 18 or over.
Referral process
The key worker and clinical team assess the needs and wishes of the tangata whai ora to determine:
- what level of support is required
- how the long the support is required for
- where the person willreturn or transition to at the end of the short stay.
If the tangata whai ora requires a short stay at a mental health residential recovery bed, their key worker should call Ahikāroa to discuss short stay options and identify suitable vacancies in one of the residential providers we work with.
Clinicians can contact Ahikāroa with any questions, we can discuss people’s needs and provide guidance.
If the need is immediate and urgent
In some cases, if the need is immediate and urgent, the key worker may use the vacancy information from the Dashboard to contact a provider directly.
- Email the completed referral form and documentation to ahikāroa@wisegroup.co.nz.
- Ahikāroa or the key worker will contact residential providers with suitable vacancies, to discuss if the tangata whai ora can enter on a short-stay.
- Entry and exit dates will be agreed on when the provider accepts the referral, and Ahikāroa will complete funding paperwork (completing the NASC 1004 notification and sending it to Strategy & Funding).
Extension of short stay placements
The clinical key worker can contact Ahikāroa if a short stay requires an extension. If the short stay extension is agreed with the tangata whai ora, residential provider and Ahikāroa, Ahikāroa will extend the funding period.
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