Staff in mental health services need clearer guidelines

EDITOR,—As Simon Wessely describes,1 recent government policy has sought to increase the influence of general practice on secondary services, which has had particular implications for providers of mental health services.2 There has not been a definitive trial of the effectiveness of counselling in general practice,3 but outcome studies are unlikely to be conclusive anyway.4

In this context, mere promotion of the idea that resources should be concentrated on long term mental illness is not good enough because of the temptation …