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GP integration ‘critical’ to $700m mental health overhaul: RACGP
It is urging government to fully integrate general practice into incoming services, warning standalone models risk fragmenting care for young people with complex needs.
The number of young people with a recent mental health disorder has increased significantly.
General practice must be fully integrated into new models of care designed to address gaps in treating young people with complex mental health needs, according to the RACGP.
The call is included in the college’s submission to a Federal Government consultation for plans to set up 30 new expanded ‘headspace Plus’ models of care, as well as 20 new Youth Specialist Care Centres (YSCCs).
Described as a ‘significant reform to the youth mental health systems’, the centres will deliver free mental health services for patients aged 12 to 25 years with higher intensity needs.
It follows a Federal Government commitment of more than $700 million to address what has been dubbed ‘the missing middle’ in mental health care for young people who need ongoing support but do not meet the threshold for acute or tertiary care.
The college submission acknowledges ‘the need to strengthen Australia’s mental health system for young people’.
It states that care for those with complex needs is not delivered through ‘isolated service episodes’ but through ‘ongoing relationships’ often established in general practice.
‘Where services operate outside these relationships, care may become fragmented, with duplication and unclear responsibility,’ the RACGP states.
‘Standalone mental health services lead to fragmentation of a patient’s healthcare. It is critical that mental health services are supported to be appropriately integrated with general practice and a person’s usual GP.’
The college also notes a lack of detail for the headspace Plus model.
‘While the model recognises the importance of communication, there is limited detail on how this will occur in practice,’ the submission states.
‘Regular, structured communication with referring GPs, including written updates and clear points of contact, is essential.
‘The model should also encourage young people to maintain engagement with a usual GP to support continuity of care.’
The college notes the new YSCCs will seek to help young people with early psychosis, complex mental health presentations, eating disorders and personality related conditions.
‘The breadth and complexity of this group creates a risk that services may become saturated, particularly where there are limited step-down options or ongoing care pathways,’ the submission warns.
Highlighting young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as a ‘priority population’, the college also says models need to set out how services will work with Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations.
The investment in the new models of care comes with the backdrop of a steep rise in mental health conditions among young people in the past 20 years.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the prevalence of 16–24-year-olds with a mental disorder in the previous 12 months stood at 38.8% in 2020–22 compared to 26% in 2007.
The locations of the new headspace Plus centres have already been confirmed, while eight YSCCs will transition from the current Early Psychosis Youth Services, and 12 new centres will be set up.
Commissioned by Primary Health Networks, the new services are due to start operating from 2027–28, with all new centres scheduled to be up and running from 2029–30.
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