acjc Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Hi there, I'm a UK clinical psychologist relatively new to Australia (currently going through the transitional program). I found out this morning that the Australia government are having a consultation about the Medicare Benefits Schedule http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/consultation-mbsreviewtaskforce and that it is open to health professionals and consumers to give feedback until Monday 9th November (two days away!) by completing the survey here: https://consultations.health.gov.au/medicare-reviews-unit/mbs-review/consult_view. I'm sure I am not the only one who has been surprised by some of the quirks of the Australian system, not least that someone with a mental health problem is only eligible for up to 10 sessions of psychological therapy a year through this MBS scheme when evidence suggests this is insufficient for the majority of people with anything more than a mild mental health disorder. For that reason, I thought I'd share the survey details on here in case this does reach anyone interested in completing the survey before the deadline! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Yep that is right 10 sessions, our gov is not going to go down that route of every man and his dog getting consultations paid for by tax payers and I think that the public would be horrified if they did that. Psychiatrists are different and they are covered by medicare so I do not see a problem with this as people with serious problems go to psychiatrists here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amibovered Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Yep that is right 10 sessions, our gov is not going to go down that route of every man and his dog getting consultations paid for by tax payers and I think that the public would be horrified if they did that. Psychiatrists are different and they are covered by medicare so I do not see a problem with this as people with serious problems go to psychiatrists here. I horrified that people may not get the treatment they need, what kind of society stops treating people with serious mental health problems because they've reached some arbitrary limit on treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 ^^^ If people have serious mental health problems they see a psychiatrist rather than a psychologist and that is covered by medicare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 ^^^ If people have serious mental health problems they see a psychiatrist rather than a psychologist and that is covered by medicare. Not necessarily true at all. Psychologists (the good ones) save lives, fact. There is a serious need for more sessions to be made available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JockinTas Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Not necessarily true at all. Psychologists (the good ones) save lives, fact. There is a serious need for more sessions to be made available. True but for SERIOUS mental health problems which require medication a psychologist can't prescribe the necessary medication. A psychiatrist can. We are discussing serious problems here such as bi-polar, schizophrenia etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 My son saw a psychologist before she went off sick with stress..... He really enjoyed chats with her but the psychiatrist is the person who helps with meds, mood monitoring etc, and has the clinical weight to make decisions. Quite honestly I think chatting with anyone would have helped - it was mostly about pushing mindfulness and anyone can read a book about that. Australia has so many psychologists it's hard to sort the wheat from the chaff, lot's of 'lifestyle' psychologists - Ones with proper experience in mental health are worth their weight in gold. Our psychiatrist charges $255 per half hour so it doesn't take much to get over the safety net and then the cost is reduced. In an odd way, the Oz health system has worked well for us - I'm sure in the UK, you wait a very long time for psychiatric help, and with the mentally ill and disabled firmly in Cameron's sight for cost cutting, it's going to get a lot worse... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 I worked for a mental health charity a couple of years ago and it operated in conjunction with the NHS. The funding was changed and regardless of how many sessions the individual needed we would be paid for an assessment and two treatment sessions and no more. Getting 10 sessions funded sounds good to me in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Mental Health Has been a issue in Australia for decades.The Liberal Government closes their eyes to anything Mental, Medical or Education.They just don't want to pay.For the Public's well being. Like All Conservatives.Foreign aid is more important.Back when Tony Abbott Was Minster of Health in The Howard Government, They had Billions in surplus,It was the Height of the mining boom, it was raining money into Government Coffers.But to save money Abbott Closed all Mentally ill Patients Halfway Houses down,and all the mentally ill patients were thrown out on the streets.The Police were up in arms about it,as they had to take them off the streets and find them somewhere to sleep.When Howard was asked to allow over 75 year olds.To have free Medication. Howard Laughed and said it would cost a fortune .At the Same Time They were running the Hospitals into the Ground.Through Lack Of Funding.As the State Governments Couldn't afford their upkeep.Schools suffered the same fate,No funding.for air/cons or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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