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NEWS: Call for mental health support for practices

Practices need more mental health specialists, both for patients and for staff, according to senior Scottish GPs.

The proposal headlines manifesto launched by the Royal College of GPs for the elections to the Scottish parliament in May. The college reported big concerns among GPs about the increase in mental health problems since the beginning of the pandemic.

A survey of Scottish GPs found that 71% reported that these presentations have increased “a lot” – and 80% said their practices did not have enough mental health workers to provide effective treatment. Some 57% said that being in general practice during the pandemic had a negative impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

The manifesto also welcomes a new dedicated mental health service for health and social care workers – and says its funding must be protected. It calls for money advice services to be based within practices and for all practices to have community link workers.

College Scottish joint chair Dr David Shackles said: “While work is currently under way to explore improvements to primary care mental health services, we need to ensure that the next Scottish Government prioritises this work to enable patients to access the mental health support that they require, when they require it, in an environment that they know and trust. General practice sits at the frontline of our health service and for the overwhelming majority of patients is their first point of contact with the NHS. We need to ensure that more mental health clinicians can be trained and brought into GP practices to provide vital support for patients in their own communities. Following the coronavirus pandemic, we have a real opportunity to revolutionise the mental health care that patients receive.”

Fellow chair Dr Chris Williams said: “As we look towards the coming years, it is vital that the lessons of the pandemic are learned and the mental health and wellbeing of our dedicated frontline staff is never again taken for granted. This is why we are calling on political parties to commit to safeguarding funding for the dedicated mental health service over the coming years to ensure that our health and social care workforce can access the support that they require when they need it most.”

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