In the midst of a national crisis in accessing mental healthcare, and an unfolding disaster in NSW as 200 public system psychiatrists quit, the Australian Private Hospitals Association says it’s wrong that the federal government is restricting the supply of qualified and accredited psychiatrists in private hospitals.
‘The federal government’s 10-year moratorium on overseas-trained psychiatrists could, and should, be lifted today to allow these psychiatrists to provide in-hospital consultations in private hospitals now,’ APHA CEO Brett Heffernan said.
‘With public hospitals overwhelmed, record waiting lists and many psychiatrists refusing to take any new patients at all, Australians are being denied the mental healthcare they urgently need due to bureaucratic red tape and ministerial intransigence.’
Catalyst
‘The situation in NSW should be a catalyst for the federal government to move now,’ he said. ‘With the NSW government seeking to accommodate mental health needs in private psychiatric hospitals, the availability of more psychiatrists, is paramount.
‘The moratorium restricts overseas-trained doctors from practising in most private hospitals, limiting their activity to areas of designated workforce shortage.
‘This definition ignores the ongoing critical need with respect to private in-patient psychiatric services that have arisen post-pandemic.
‘With the backlog of patients needing in-hospital care exploding, the critical workforce demand for treatment of moderate-to-severe mental illness is most definitely apparent in private hospitals,’ said Mr Heffernan. ‘The government’s historical approach to moratorium setting is redundant and requires immediate correction.
‘Over the last couple of years the crisis in psychiatric care has deepened. It has become harder and harder to find a psychiatrist. Events now unfolding across NSW are the last straw for a mental health system that desperately needs the federal minister for health to move to avert a patient catastrophe.
‘The government’s choice to delay any decision for another six months while our healthcare system crumbles ignores real people with real lives enduring real suffering,’ he said.
Harmful
‘The delay is not an inconvenience, it’s harmful to the patients who are waiting for care and to the healthcare workers who are already stretched to their breaking point. Lifting the moratorium would open the door for highly trained psychiatrists to ease the burden on patients and the system.
‘Hospitals – public and private – are facing an unprecedented crisis due to a lack of psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals,’ said Mr Heffernan.
‘The delay in lifting the moratorium means hospitals will continue to be understaffed and patients will wait longer for care that needs to be provided to them now.
‘Lifting the moratorium will provide immediate relief, helping both public and private healthcare providers to manage patient load and reduce strain on hospital staff.’
