The need to upskill rural general practitioners in mental health care

Statements made last year by the President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) questioned the appropriateness of general practitioners managing mental health problems in people over the age of 45 years without input from psychiatrists.1 This was against the background of a study that had found GPs were poorer than a standardised psychiatric testing tool in identifying, without assistance, patients who had depression.2 The RANZCP used this finding to argue that referral rates to psychiatrists should be higher.