Psychiatrists back Better Access cuts

Two leading psychiatrists have told the government it is doing the right thing by scaling the Better Access scheme for mental health.

Professor Ian Hickie told a recent Senate Inquiry (link) into Mental Health Services that the cuts – which will see GP rebates slashed by half – were needed to “correct the balance” and were “extremely welcome”.

He said the scheme had never been intended to cover all psychological care outside of hospital, but it was now being used for ‘higher need‘ patients who would be better managed through the ATAPS program.

He also applauded the move to cut the number of sessions from ten to six, saying it would allow more people to be treated for shorter periods.

“We have people who should not be in that care system receiving long-term care while many other people are excluded,” he said.

Professor Hickie was backed up by Professor Patrick McGorry who said any patient needing more than 10 sessions with a GP required “a serious re-evaluation and they probably need more skilled psychological care ... probably on a team basis.”

However AMA president Dr Steve Hambleton (link) told the inquiry the AMA opposed cuts to a scheme that was helping more than a million patients access GP mental health services each year, including over 130,000 in disadvantaged areas.