Almost half of GP appointments now involve mental health, survey finds

A new survey has revealed that 40 per cent of GP appointments now involve mental health.

For many of us, our GPs are the first port of call for accessing support for mental health.

So much so, that a survey of more than 1,000 GPs, conducted by mental health charity Mind, has revealed that two in three GPs (66 per cent) say the proportion of patients needing help with their mental health has increased in the last 12 months.

GPs also say that two in five (40 per cent) of their appointments now involve mental health.

As a result of the findings, Mind is now calling for better mental health training for GPs with the support of four out of five doctors who agree there should be a wider range of options.

Currently, training for GPs is limited to three years and just one of the 21 compulsory modules for trainees is specifically dedicated to mental health.

Similarly, while trainees are given the option to undertake placements in mental health, it is often based in hospitals rather than community psychiatric services.

In an open letter to Health Education England, signed by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of GPs and other bodies, Mind is calling for GP training to be extended from three to four years to allow for more mental health training.

It is also calling for urgent additional resources in the primary care workforce, including the placement of mental health therapists in GP surgeries.

“GPs do a really difficult job. We know it can make a huge difference when our GP is knowledgeable and confident about mental health, or when we find that a physical illness is affecting our mental health,” said Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind.

“When they are well supported and receive specialised, relevant and ongoing training, they are better equipped to provide the best care.”

The calls are being backed by a number of healthcare professionals including Dr Timothy Cooper, who completes his GP training next month.

“As part of my rotations I was very lucky to spend six months in an in-patient psychiatric hospital as well as an out-patient clinic. This was hugely useful in helping my understanding of mental health,” Cooper said.

“When training as a GP, it's important to see people at both ends of the spectrum - those acutely mentally unwell in places such as A&E but also people with less severe mental health problems, the types of problems you're more likely to encounter day-to-day in the surgery.

“Offering trainee GPs more types of mental health placements would be invaluable.”

Dr Barbara Compitus, who has been a GP for 16 years agrees, adding: “Offering more mental health training to trainee GPs, would allow them to feel more confident when dealing with the high volume of patients experiencing these types of problems.

“Ensuring they have the tools to recognise their own mental health needs as well as those of their patients is essential."