News
12 December, 2024
Staffing to combat suicide
An adequately resourced workforce is key to making a meaningful impact on reducing the rate of suicide according to the Australian Medical Association (AMA).
The National Suicide Prevention Office's draft advice on the National Suicide Prevention Strategy highlights the ongoing workforce crisis in mental health services, which is negatively impacting patient care and needs urgent attention.
AMA President Dr. Danielle McMullen emphasized that general practitioners, psychiatrists, mental health nurses, psychologists, paediatricians, school counsellors, social workers, and other qualified mental health professionals are crucial to providing effective support for individuals with mental health conditions.
“We are currently facing severe workforce shortages or inadequate staffing in our mental health system,” Dr. McMullen stated. “In psychiatry alone, we have just under 4,300 psychiatrists working in Australia, which is nowhere near enough. Psychiatrists are also unevenly distributed across the country, with close to 80 percent of the workforce concentrated in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.”
While Dr. McMullen welcomed the federal government’s recent investment in additional postgraduate psychology places, she emphasized that more needs to be done—especially to support general practice and address workforce shortages in psychiatry.
“For people living with more significant mental illnesses, a multi-disciplinary team is likely to result in effective suicide prevention and ongoing support,” Dr. McMullen explained. “Investment is needed to develop capacity in mental health services in GP and private psychiatrist practices, and this extends to embedding accredited mental health nurses and social workers. These ‘wrap-around’ services will deliver improved health outcomes, particularly in rural, regional, and remote areas.”
