Four year GP training should include child health and mental health, says RCGP

The Royal College of General Practitioners has called for four year GP training to include specialist led training in child health and mental health.

Maureen Baker, chairwoman of the college, said that mental health problems needed to be tackled as early as possible. She said figures showed that 50% of people with mental health problems will have presented with symptoms by the age of 15, and that 75% will have done so by age 18.

Baker said that GPs had a crucial role to play in improving the mental health of young people but that many had not received any specialist tuition in paediatrics or psychiatry during their training. “The RCGP is also working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and [the charity] Young Minds, to develop ways that GPs and specialists might train together and so work more effectively when caring for young people with mental health problems, and it has set up a series of meetings to take this forward,” she said.

The college will focus on equipping GPs to deal with the common mental health problems that younger people face. This will include managing anxiety, depression, and self harm, improving mental resilience, identifying suicide risk, and improving early recognition of psychosis.