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.
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- 1. Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Gap in understanding puts baby boomers’ mental health at risk [media release]. 16 Apr 2014. https://www.ranzcp.org/News-policy/Media-Centre/Media/Gap-in-understanding-puts-baby-boomers%E2%80%99-mental-hea.aspx (accessed Feb 2015).
- 2. Carey M, Jones K, Meadows G, et al. Accuracy of general practitioner unassisted detection of depression. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2014; 48: 571-578.
- 3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Mental health services — in brief 2013. Canberra: AIHW, 2013. http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129544726 (accessed Feb 2015).
- 4. Sturk H, Kavanagh D, Gallois C, et al. Should mental health issues be addressed in primary care, and can it be done? Views of rural general practitioners in Queensland. Australas Psychiatry 2007; 15: S90-S94.
- 5. Health Workforce Australia. Health Workforce 2025, volume 3: medical specialties. Adelaide: HWA, 2012. https://www.hwa.gov.au/sites/default/files/HW2025_V3_FinalReport20121109_0.pdf (accessed Feb 2015).
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