KEY POINTS:
- A peak group representing psychologists wants measures put in place following the Black Summer bushfires extended to any natural disaster
- The measures provided for 10 additional subsidised sessions accessible without a GP referral.
- The Australian Medical Association is worried this would 'fragment' care and instead wants more support for GPs.
This article contains references to suicide.
Psychologists are calling for Australians hit by natural disasters to be able to seek mental health support without the need for a GP referral.
While the idea has gained support from at least one healthcare provider in Western Australia, the peak doctor's body says GPs are a crucial part of the system.
What is the proposal?
The Australian Association of Psychologists Inc (AAPi) wants to remove the need for people to get a GP referral before seeing a psychologist if they have recently experienced a natural disaster.
The push comes after a who experienced climate-fuelled disasters since 2019 said their mental health had been somewhat impacted.
Among those who have experienced at least one climate-fuelled disaster since 2019, more than a third said there was too little mental health support available for people in the community after the disaster, the Climate Council report said.
AAPi's idea is not without precedent. Following the Black Summer bushfires, 10 Medicare subsidised psychologist appointments — in addition to existing subsidies — were made available to people who had experienced the natural disaster, with the appointments accessible without a GP referral.
AAPi executive director Tegan Carrison is calling on the government to allow those impacted by natural disasters to access psychologists without a GP referral and be able to access additional subsidised sessions. Source: Supplied
AAPi executive director Tegan Carrison said the Climate Council survey showed it was clear there was a demand for more mental health support.
She said self-referral removed some of the barriers to accessing mental health support following a natural disaster, given the current demand for GP services across the country.
"Clients would not have to wait for a GP to be available, nor required to have a diagnosed mental health condition, to request psychological services after a natural disaster,” she said.
Who backs the proposal?
There's some support for it from Boab Health Services, which services the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
saw people trapped in their homes, communities cut off, homes rendered uninhabitable and people displaced in towns hundreds of kilometres from their homes.
Kim Lovibond, Executive Manager of Operations for Boab Health Services, is hoping mental health support will be easy enough to access when people decide they need it.
Boab Health Services executive manager operations, Kim Lovibond, says while an increase in the demand for mental health services in the Kimberley following the floods is not yet obvious, she expects the trauma of the flooding may compound with people's existing unresolved traumas.
“It's still a little bit fresh and I think everybody is concentrating on just more of the immediate logistical response,” she said.
Ms Lovibond said she expected the experience of the flooding and displacement may compound existing unresolved trauma for some of those in the area in the weeks and months ahead and she wanted it to be easy for people to access support.
Flooding devastated the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing and surrounding communities. Source: AAP / WA Police
She said it would be “wonderful” if, when the need arises, people in the area could have the ability to access psychology sessions without a GP referral.
“It’d remove the red tape in terms of access for the residents to receive mental health help without having to see multiple people and share their stories multiple times,” Ms Lovibond said.
“It would reduce their costs and they don't have to wait to see a GP.
"The waiting times can be quite long see the GP and then wait to be triaged and get appointments within mental health."
Doctors don't agree with the idea
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Professor Steve Robson indicated the association did not support the AAPi's call to waive the requirement for a GP referral in the case of natural disasters.
"General practice plays a critical role in providing and coordinating access to mental health services for patients, often being the first point of call in our health system," he said.
Dr Robson said the idea would "tinker around the edges" of Medicare Benefit Schedule arrangements and was not enough.
"We need a much more robust approach to making sure communities can access the care they need following a natural disaster," he said.
It was up to the government to deliver more support to ensure GPs can keep up with growing community demand, including in times of natural disaster, and working with other mental health professionals, he said.
"This well-coordinated approach avoids the fragmentation of care and delivers the best outcomes of patients," he said.
"Recent flooding in Lismore (in NSW) provides a salient lesson, where key health infrastructure has been destroyed and medical and other health providers are struggling to even keep their doors open."
What does the government say?
The AAPi plans on raising the idea with federal Health Minister Mark Butler on Monday as part of the Mental Health Equity and Access Forum being held in Canberra.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said the uptake of the self-referred Medicare subsidised psychology sessions following the Black Summer bushfires had been "extremely low and only helped a limited number of people".
"Given the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, the government will ensure that any additional mental health support for disaster-impacted communities has the widest reach possible and gets to those people who need them most," the spokesman said.
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