Sorry guys

but what is the cat team, I have no idea

Pam,

What a very good question. I was certain I coulda just said what it is, but then, I couldn't. So I googled something, pfffft.

It comes from the Intitials of the words in Brackets in the Mental Health (Compulsory Assesment and Treatment) Act 1992 and CAT has come to stand I think for the supposedly 'on-call' psych emergency services whose word can make or break one should ya be able to actually have them respond in a timely and appropriate manner.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or add more info, for us all, please
You Lot. Ta.

Paddy

Hi Pam,

At my Certificate in Social Services we were taught that CAT team stands for Crisis Assessment & Treatment team. They are based in DHB hospitals and, as Paddy explained, are an on-call psychiatric emergency team.

(below part is copied from a DHB website, but CAT teams operate the same in every DHB)

The CAT team provide 24 hour, 7 days a week assessment and short-term treatment services for people experiencing a serious mental health crisis and for whom there are urgent safety issues.

CATT provides after-hours crisis contact for clients of all CCMH Mental Health Services, general practitioners, community and consumer groups and other health professionals.

click here for the link

The lesser known CAT team, stands for Child Abuse Team, and is staffed by the police. The Police Child Abuse Team works with Child, Youth and Family in the investigation of sexual and serious physical abuse cases. Police make the decision on any prosecution.

But most of the time, when people talk about CAT team, they talk about the crisis assessment & treatment team.

Hope this is helpful

xx

Aradhna