Better outcomes--a case study

It is estimated that mental health problems will affect more than 20% of the Australian adult population in their lifetime. The 2001 Australian Commonwealth budget provided dollars 120.4 million over 4 years to improve the quality of care provided through general practice to Australians with a mental health illness. The Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care (BOMHC) initiative--which forms part of the National Mental Health Strategy--began in 2001 and aimed to improve the quality of care provided through general practice to patients with a mental health problem. This article reviews the uptake of education and training initiatives of the BOMHC initiative and good uptake by general practitioners across Australia. Well over 3600 GPs have completed the first 'level' of training associated with the initiative, representing 16.5% of the GP population. Access by consumers to mental health trained and registered GPs also significantly improved, with one in four practices employing a GP registered with the BOMHC initiative.