Setting the Standards: A report on a GP/Mental Health Service Liaison Project in a Rural Area

Abstract

One of the most discussed, yet open areas of change and re-evaluation in contemporary mental health care is the coworking relationship between general practitioners (GPs) and local Mental Health Services. It is crucial to the role of general practitioners and central to mental health services which have seen large-scale deinstitutionalisation, a shift to primary and community care, and the twin thrusts of government policy (NSW Department of Health, 1998) of prevention and partnerships. This paper outlines a liaison project developed jointly by the South-East Division of General Practitioners and Southern Area Mental Health Service to address these issues. It will describe the response to the findings of a needs analysis by the development of Basic Standards for GP/MHS liaison which were relevant to a rural area, practical, pragmatic and possible, and, when fully established, would be the foundation of effective, efficient and efficacious shared care in mental health.