Dear Australian Government Department of Health,
The National Association of Practising Psychiatrists (NAPP) is very concerned about the lack of consultation time made available to assess the Private Health Insurance Consultation – Second Wave Reforms, especially with regard to Consultation 3.ย The timeย for affected parties, especially physicians providing psychiatric services, has been too brief.ย Please provide an extension of time until at least the end of February for our organisation to provide you a properย submission.ย
In the interim, our brief response to this application is to raise concerns about the consequences of any implementation of these reforms.ย We are concerned that these proposalsย will deprive patients of
(1) choice of mental health psychiatrist provider,
(2) ready access to inpatient psychiatric treatment in private hospital,
(3) appropriate mental health treatment in both inpatientย and outpatient settings, and
(4) expose patients to treatment by mental heath providers who are not properly supervised, monitored and directed by the treating psychiatrist and general practitioner.ย
I look forwardย to your reply.ย
Prof Philip Morris AM
President NAPP
