In a leaked document sent to the health minister late last year, it has been suggested that primary health networks, and general practitioners are in the best position to offer mental health services, and as such they should be funded to the tune of $1 billion. The reasoning behind the report (in part) is that the mental health system in Australia is simply a cobbling together of uncoordinated services, and mental health services should be integrated into the day-to-day life of a service user.
The report makes recommendations to move mental health services away from hospitals to the community, where the GP can be more involved in prevention and early intervention. Further, suicide prevention programs should be rolled out to schools, health care providers, hospitals and emergency services and those funds be made available not only to research, but to service users by way of relaxed eligibility, and payment criteria (although it does also mention clarification of eligibility criteria for access to the NDIS for people with a disability that has stemmed from a mental illness). The report states an aim to move service users from acute care and the disability pension, to prevention and early intervention.
While much of this is speculation, it has raised the ire of certain sectors of the health care industry. Psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health nurses and doctors, and those working in the mental health services arena all agree that the extended training and experience they offer to service users (with a mental health illness) cannot be replaced by the less extensive training given to GPs. The broad knowledge they hold with regards to medications, illnesses, therapies and interventions is more valuable. Furthermore, the load currently experienced by GPs won’t allow for the complex nature of mental health service users; diagnosis, intervention, assessment and long-term treatment are outside the scope of a GP in their day-to-day practice.
On the other side of the coin, advocates claim that if it’s a quick check up or an initial assessment, the GP might be the best place. From there, the service user can be referred to the best specialist for their concerns. A GP mental health care plan may just work.
If the recommendations in the report go ahead, it will mean an increase in the number of GP services required to deal with the sudden growth in patient numbers. If you’ve been planning a move to Australia, now might be the perfect time to look into it with the growth of employment in the healthcare industry. At HealthStaff Recruitment, our professional and knowledgeable staff can help facilitate your move to Australia – and into the Australian health care system.