Adolescents 3.4 times more likely to self-harm than adults: AIHW Self-harm hospitalisations have surged 38% in four years, as general practice underfunding and psychiatric waitlists leave patients desperate for help.
Controversial pharmacy prescribing pilot begins The program has drawn the ire of GPs who say it puts profits ahead of patient safety and further fragments care.
The answer to psychiatric and child development waitlists Allowing trained GPs to initiate stimulant prescriptions for ADHD would help families and clinicians, writes Dr Andrew Leech.
Are antipsychotics safe to use during pregnancy? Researchers found no connections between the drugs and neurodevelopmental disorders in ‘reassuring’ news for mums.
GP concern over new pharmacy assistants course The training was launched as part of the Queensland Community Pharmacy Scope of Practice Pilot, but the RACGP says it points to a ‘lack of capacity’.
Primary care at the heart of social prescribing national rollout The RACGP was part of a recent roundtable discussion aimed at broadening the landscape of social prescribing in Australia.
In Practice: Updates to allied health MBS items Referral changes to MBS items for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients accessing allied health services are now in place.
Study busts smoking population myths The first national profile of Australia’s 2.5 million smokers shows many are educated, employed and do not have poor mental health.
Shingles management added to pharmacy prescribing pilot Victorian pharmacists can supply treatments from next month, but one GP says ‘fearless’ evaluation is key to the trial's success.
‘The tyranny of distance’: rural health inequities persist Health disparities between those living in urban and rural areas have been laid bare in the National Rural Health Alliance’s latest analysis.