The number of young children needing mental health care is steadily adding to the pressure on the Canterbury District Health Board just as mental health funding for the region is set to drop below the national average.

Almost half of Christchurch children needing care are having to wait three weeks to see someone, missing the government-set target.

More than one in 10 are waiting longer than two months. However the latest figures are a huge improvement to pre-quake waiting times.

CEO David Meates said they’re doing the best they can under the circumstances.

"I am comfortably uncomfortable and we have an ongoing set of challenges while we continue saying to services sitting within construction zones, while we're doing earthquake repairs and a range of other elements," he said.

Demand for mental health services in Canterbury have soared since the February 2011 quakes. Sixty percent more children, and 40 percent more adults are in need of mental health support, while suicide-related callouts have increased by 55 percent in the last five years.

Funding for mental health services through the Ministry of Social Development have been cut over the last year from $1.6 million to just $400,000.

The government is also asking District Health Boards around the country to find savings worth $160 million, and critics are arguing such cuts would put mental health services at CDHB at serious risk.

Yesterday CDHB board member Jo Kane, speaking exclusively to Newstalk ZB, said that "if we have to find the money out of existing budgets, that will mean we have to cut [mental health] services."

Meanwhile, the Public Service Association has called for an urgent meeting with the Canterbury District Health Board to address concerns about funding.

Erin Polaczuk, national secretary for the PSA, is worried the situation will turn dire, and put people's lives at risk.

Polaczuk also said workers are already under strain, and now they'll be picking up extra slack.