Please note the following information regarding patient mental health diagnosis for Disability Support Pension through Centrelink.

The diagnosis of the condition must be made by an appropriately qualified medical practitioner. This includes a general practitioner or a psychiatrist. Where the appropriately qualified medical practitioner is not a psychiatrist, the diagnosis must be made by a general practitioner with evidence from a clinical psychologist.

A recent consensus statement released in the Medical Journal Australia by the Heart Foundation states there are high rates of depression in patients with coronary heart disease and they should be screened when they first present to their GP.

As you would be aware from previous updates, Summit Health has been offering counselling services to children aged up to 12 years and their families since November last year.

Headspace is a well regarded institution and its facilities have a positive reputation for their capacity to help young people with mental health issues and broader health concerns. For the past 4 years Summit Health has been the lead agency for all the Hills youth mental health providers in lobbying for a site to be located in this region to address the lack of equity in accessing services compared with metropolitan Adelaide. We lack services for youth in the Hills.

We are pleased to announce that Summit Health was successful in securing another 12 months of funding to provide services through the Rural Primary Health Service program funded via the Central Adelaide And Hills Medicare Local.