"GP Psych Opinion": evaluation of a psychiatric consultation service

To evaluate a hospital-based psychiatric consultation service for patients referred by general practitioners (GPs), and the effect on its use of a focused marketing strategy aimed at GPs.

Postal survey of GPs in the catchment area (inner north Brisbane, Queensland), September to November 2003; and assessment of referrals, March to August 2003.

Patient referrals, satisfaction among GPs who had referred, and awareness and opinions of the service among GPs who had not referred, compared with results of a similar survey conducted before marketing.

In the 6 months after marketing, 43 patients were referred by 23 GPs, an average of 7.2 patients per month, compared with 2.5 per month in the first 12 months of the service. Survey responses were received from 13 of 36 GPs who had referred patients and 97 of 282 GPs who had not (response rate, 35%). Satisfaction among GPs who had referred remained high, and 12/13 felt the service should continue. Among GPs who had not referred, 76% were aware of the service, up from 26% in the previous survey, and 99% liked the concept of the service.

Given the ongoing low utilisation of this service, we question whether this model is accepted by most GPs in our district. Possibly, they prefer more traditional models, where treatment is taken over by psychiatrists in the public or private system. We believe there is a need to increase the capacity and scope of publicly funded services to treat mental health problems.