Why are rejected psychiatry referrals all too common for general practitioners? There is a critical shortage of psychiatrists in Australia. Just as there is a worsening general practice workforce crisis. This critical shortage of psychiatrists was to some extent acknowledged in the 2021 Federal Budget through the investment of $11 million into 30 new psychiatry training places by 2023. But while that investment is welcome, we still have critical workforce shortages in psychiatry, and recent increases in demand have not assisted in improving access. A great strength of Australian Medical Association (Victoria) and Australian Medical Association is that it brings together medical practitioners from across the healthcare system, improving transparency and facilitating whole of healthcare understanding and advocacy. If we work and advocate in silos we risk not understanding the shared and compounding challenges we face. By working together in our state and federal advocacy we can create beneficial change, and a deeper understanding of how system problems and workforce shortages are adversely affecting patient outcomes across our health system.
Rejected #psychiatry referrals are all too common in 2023, writes Dr Andrew Leech. #newsGP
Paul Furst
1y
Yes, there is a critical shortage of psychiatrists, which is why as Chair of the SA Branch of the RANZCP we argued strongly for additional positions, especially in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry which is the key bottleneck for psychiatry training in SA. It is also important for referees to understand that many psychiatrists are subspecilised. Just as the college of physicians has paediatricians, general physicians and geriatricians, we also have Child and Adolescent Psychiarosts, General Adult, Psychiatrsits for Older Persons, and on top of that we also have psychiatrists with specialist training and qualifications in psychotherapy, consultation liaison psychiatry, forensic psychiatry and other smaller areas of speciality. Many psychiatrists, aware of the overwhelming demand, chose to do one-off assessments with treatment plan (291s) rather than take on ongoing patients. Many mental disorders are persistent/chronic displeases, therefore a small number of new patients taken on in an ongoing fashion can quickly fill the books. Some do this and take few referrals and others chose to see as many patients as they can as one off reviews. Public community mental health services are also drowning under demand.
The question is that whether government is welcoming IMG psychiatrists as is required?
Consultant psychiatrist and Director of Theta clinic
1yMain reason I reject referrals are, when there is some risks associated. Unfortunately the public mental health services are not supportive of private psychiatrists. I have had multiple situations where Public MH services reject support or follow up when requested. Also, emergency departments discharge patients to be “followed” up by the PP ,when they clearly need admissions or ongoing regular reviews. Some situations, there is no communication at all. With my current patient load I do not have capacity to follow someone weekly. But that’s the expectation. Hence most psychiatrists like myself, reject medium/high risk referrals.