WaMH in PC GP and Practice Nurse Survey 2011 Results

Submitted by SiteAdmin on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 09:57

The results of our GP and Practice Nurse Survey 2011 have revealed how most Health Care Professionals (HCPs) find working with mental health issues challenging under the current health care system in Wales.

The survey found HCPs felt there was a need for improvement in the interface between primary and secondary mental health care - especially in terms outreach and community services and the referrals system to secondary care services.

The majority of HCPs who responded to the survey estimated they spent 10-30% of their working time on mental health issues and most described this work as either "difficult" or "very difficult".

However, despite their problems nearly two-thirds felt able to deal with mental health and consult with their primary care colleagues when appropriate and said were still committed to providing primary mental health care services.

The survey also found out what HCPs thought about the ongoing impact of plans and strategies like the Mental Health (Wales) Measure 2010 and National Dementia Vision for Wales but for a full breakdown of the survey's findings please use the following links:

This was second audit of Welsh GPs and practice nurses in Wales - with the first survey completed in 2009 - and its findings will be used to develop our Gold Standard Programme and inform policy makers and service providers of the views of the primary care workforce.

The survey ran from 1st September to 11th October 2011 - carried out by Lundbeck Limited - with 202 primary care healthcare professionals responding compared to 174 in 2009.