Better Access to Mental Health Care

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Better Access to Mental Health Care
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General Practice Network NT
General Practice Primary Health Care NT, Top End
Division of General Practice and Central
Australian Division of Primary Health Care have
merged to form GPNNT
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GPNNT and Mental Health

• ATAPS project
• Rural and Remote Measure
• Aboriginal Mental Health Worker Program
• Suicide prevention

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Education and training

• A range of mental health training provided to GPs
  and allied health
• Can Do Managing Mental Health and Substance
  Abuse
• Better Access training

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Can Do Managing Mental Health and Substance Use

• Focuses on education, training and networking
  between two multidisciplinary teams of health
  professionals
• 6 Can Do workshops run in the Top End and Central
  Australia and a total of 123 GPs and allied
  health professionals reached
• Funding for more workshops in 2008

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Better Access to Mental Health Care

• 538 million over the next five years
• Remuneration for GPs for mental health care
  planning and assessment
• Increasing access to general practitioners,
  psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and other
  allied mental health professionals

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Better Access GPs

• Extended consultation to undertake mental health
  assessment and care planning
• Consultations for reviewing patients
• New referral pathway

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Better Access - Allied Health

• Funding through Medicare for patients to access
  Psychologists, Social Workers and Occupational
  Therapists
• Need to be registered with Medicare
• 6 plus 6 sessions

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Referrals to Psychiatrists

• GPs can refer patients for an assessment and
  development of a management plan by a
  psychiatrist
• Ongoing management of the patient remains with
  the GP

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Quick case study

• GPs most commonly see the high prevalence mental
  health disorders like anxiety and depression
• Need to formulate a plan for these patients
• Commonly require a referral pathway

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Better Access training

• Acknowledgement that many GPs would like training
  in development in mental health care plans
• Opportunity to bring allied health professionals
  together with GPs
• 35 health professionals attended training in
  Darwin

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Partnership with AimHI

• Needed to adapt the Better Access training for
  remote settings
• Assessment and planning tools developed by AimHI
  fit the requirements under Medicare
• Training in Alice, Tennant Creek and Katherine so
  far

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Uptake of Better Access in NT

• 7000 GP Better Access Items claimed 0.4 of the
  National claims
• 1,700 referrals to Clinical Psychologists
• 4,400 referrals to Psychologists
• 600 referrals to Psychiatrists
• 130 referrals to social workers
• 1 referral to an OT
• Central Australia has had 17 of the GP uptake of
  Better Access items in NT