Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives?

5. Service Delivery Model
Given the low levels of engagement that the surveyed GPs had had with headspace (19/43 have
not referred patients to headspace), it is perhaps not surprising that very few GPs reported feeling
more confident in identifying and treating young people with mental health problems since the
establishment of headspace. As Figure 5.8 below shows, the majority of respondent GP’s reported
feeling confident in their ability to provide best practice care for young people with emerging mental
health problems (n=35, 81%), and an even larger proportion reported feeling confident in their ability
to identify young people with emerging mental health problems (n=40, 93%). In contrast, very few
GPs reported any changes to their confidence levels or practices since connecting with headspace.
Only 5 GPs (12%) reported feeling more confident in identifying young people with emerging mental
health problems; a further seven (16%) indicated that they had changed how they treat young people
with emerging mental health problems, and a slightly higher number still (n=9, 21%) reported that
since connecting to headspace, they have developed a more up-to-date knowledge of local services.
As shown in Figure 5.8 below, a significant number of respondents marked ‘not applicable’ to these
questions (approximately 42% of respondents).
Figure 5.8 GP referral of young patients to services within the last 12 months (respondent numbers)
Source: Survey of Professional Stakeholders.
None of the GPs surveyed had been invited by headspace to participate in youth mental health care
training.
These results are reported from a small subsample of general practitioners and, therefore, should be
used with caution. The Professional Stakeholders Survey findings suggest, however, that headspace
needs to engage in information sharing and relationship building activities with this important
stakeholder group. The Centre Managers Survey identified GP services within centres as a gap
in service delivery – identified by one-third of respondents (13 of 29 respondents). The headspace
model currently aims to provide GP services within centres and relies upon a connection to local
GPs that refer young people to centres. This feature of the service model is not working well at all
centres and, as suggested by one survey respondent, successful sites could provide mentoring:
I know some headspace sites are very good at their GP engagement – perhaps they could
mentor or share resources with the sites that are not so strong (Survey Response No. 78)
Finally, and as identified above, increased and genuine engagement with local GPs could result
in the development of alternative modes of collaboration and shared care. While sample sizes are
small, evaluation data provides a warning that genuine engagement with this important stakeholder
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