Mental health services in primary care: the overlap in professional roles

The present study was part of a two-stage study set up to examine the changes fundholding has made on the provision of mental health services in primary care. Detailed information was collected from mental health professionals and counsellors working in 20 fundholding and 20 non-fundholding practices in the South Thames Region. The findings suggest that there was a considerable degree of overlap between the mental health professionals in their training, the techniques they employed, the range of problems referred and whom they considered appropriate and inappropriate to treat. It is important that each professional's training and skills are used to their full potential and inappropriate referrals are avoided. There is a need for further, more detailed research into this area including comparative studies of effectiveness and efficacy. It is also important that the roles of these mental health professionals are clarified and relevant standards including core and specialist skills are developed and maintained