Message from the Chair

Hello from the General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration (GPMHSC) and welcome to the winter edition of our newsletter.

Department of Health funding

I’m pleased to announce the GPMHSC has secured funding from the Department of Health for the next two years. The funding allows us to continue to develop, implement and promote a range of projects to improve general practice training and education in mental health.

You’ll find more information on the Focussed Psychological Strategies (FPS) training subsidy in this newsletter. In the coming months, I’ll provide more information on other key projects, including an opportunity for training providers to apply for grants to develop and deliver online mental health education.

General practice conferences

The GPMHSC will be exhibiting at various general practice conferences over the coming months, including:
 

• General Practice Training and Education 2021 in Darwin on 7–9 September 2021
• GP21 online on 19–21 November 2021
• Rural Medicine Australia 21 in Perth on 20–23 October 2021.

COVID-19 update

I’d like to extend my gratitude and acknowledge all GPs and practice staff who have worked tirelessly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the resurgence in cases in most states and territories over recent months, coupled with issues around the vaccine rollout, I’m sure we can all agree it’s been a challenging and exhausting period.

I’d also like to remind you the GPMHSC website has a section dedicated to COVID-19 resources, fact sheets and guides to help you support the mental health and wellbeing of your patients. This resource hub is updated regularly and also contains information on MBS item numbers for providing mental health telehealth consultations.

Follow us on Twitter

Lastly, I’m pleased to announce the GPMHSC has its very own Twitter handle: @GPMHSC2

Follow us to keep up to date on the latest mental health news and issues that affect our communities, including information on upskilling in mental health, GP resources to help support your patients’ mental health needs, and information on policy and mental health reform.
 
Associate Professor Morton Rawlin

Chair, GPMHSC