Will the Cabinet Minister outline why there is currently no consistent national process for handling mental health concerns when patients telephone their GP surgery, and what action is being taken to ensure vulnerable patients are properly identified and prioritised?
GMS access standards, operated through the Unified GMS contract, are in place to make contacting GP surgeries easier and more consistent. They set clear expectations for telephony, call handling and care navigation, ensuring patients receive timely responses and are directed to appropriate care without needing to re-contact the practice. While maintaining these standards, practices have flexibility in local delivery and have received funding to upgrade phone systems to better manage demand.
Where a patient presents with urgent mental health concerns, GP practices should ensure that the person is responded to promptly and directed to the most appropriate urgent support, including escalation to a clinician or, where necessary, emergency or crisis services in line with local pathways.
Additionally, the 10-year Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy published last April outlines how we will improve access to mental health support. The strategy puts early intervention, prevention and person-centred care at the heart of mental health services, ensuring people are referred to the most appropriate form of support at the right time, without delay.
A key part of the transformation of mental healthcare is open access services, with people receiving same-day mental health support without the need for a referral and our open access working group also includes primary care membership. This will build on previous work including the introduction of the Wales-wide 111 press 2 service for urgent mental health care and the provision of online cognitive behavioural therapy.