GPs should be trained to treat more mental health patients to ease ‘national emergency’, peak body says

‘The reality is that general practice is the most accessible service for many people who require mental health care,’ RACGP president Dr Karen Price said. Photograph: Minerva Studio/Getty Images/iStockphoto

General practitioners should have access to training to provide patients with more advanced mental health care in response to the critical shortage of psychiatrists, the peak body for GPs has recommended.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has called for a comprehensive government restructure of Medicare to address the mental health “national emergency”.