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Calls to support longer mental health consultations
The RACGP has implored both sides of politics to ‘properly support’ general practice as the frontline of mental health care.
Limiting mental health consultations to under 40 minutes has been labelled ‘completely unreasonable’.
According to RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon, many GPs believe it is ‘completely unreasonable’ to limit mental health discussions with patients to 40 minutes or less, and are calling for government recognition of longer consultations.
‘Mental health care is one of the most common and complex areas of general practice. When we care for patients in crisis we need to be able to offer them the highest quality care without keeping an eye on the clock,’ Dr Nespolon said.
‘Often when a patient comes in needing mental health treatment it’s the first time they have spoken up about their concerns and, as GPs, we are there to make sure that we can keep them safe and out of crisis.’
For the past two years, the General Practice: Health of the Nation report has identified mental health as the number one issue faced by Australian GPs during their two million weekly consultations, and the area they are most concerned about for the future.
‘When a patient walks through the door with mental health needs or thoughts of suicide or self-harm, they need comprehensive care that cannot be time limited,’ Dr Nespolon said.
‘The last thing I want to do as a GP is tell a patient who is confiding in me that they will need stop talking because we have run out of time – these patients need support, and the failure of Medicare to provide this support could be a matter of life or death.
‘The Australian Government must provide better support for patients and GPs to let them decide how much time they require to deal with the issues before them.’
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