As a pay dispute drives almost two-thirds of NSW's public hospital psychiatrists towards resignation, the crisis in Australia's largest health system has fuelled calls for greater national action.
Former Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide head Peggy Brown was announced as the new chair of Mental Health Australia on Thursday and said state and federal governments needed to work more closely together to improve outcomes.
The NSW crisis should spark discussions about the mental health sector's long-term needs, rather than forcing a quick fix that might not stand the test of time, she said.
"The risk is discussions will occur to get over the hump of a crisis, but that the opportunity might be lost to actually have those important conversations," Dr Brown told AAP.
The mass resignations in NSW - building on existing and widespread vacancies in the public system - have spurred state officials to lean on private-sector psychiatrists while drawing on other health workers, such as psychologists, GPs and nurses, to fill gaps.
Dr Brown said it was widely known that there were systemic issues with services in other states and territories.
Any overhaul of service delivery needed to be done over time, not on the run during a period of crisis, she said.
Mental health issues account for about 15 per cent of Australia's disease burden but the sector's share of funding was less than half of that, Dr Brown said.
NSW's mass resignations have also led to appeals for restrictions on overseas-trained doctors to be relaxed.
Peggy Brown says the NSW crisis should help highlight the mental health sector's long-term needs. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)
The Australian Private Hospitals Association wants the federal government to remove a requirement for overseas-trained psychiatrists to work in rural or regional areas for a decade before gaining access to Medicare rebates.
"This would immediately relieve pressure on the public system while making better use of private sector capacity," chief executive Brett Heffernan said.
"The only thing stopping the throughput of patients through private hospitals is the availability of psychiatrists."
NSW chief psychiatrist Murray Wright agreed the move could assist the current crisis, arguing metropolitan hospitals had become in-need areas.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists acknowledged the Medicare moratorium as a contributing factor to workforce shortages but emphasised the need for broader systemic reform.
"The reality is the moratorium is not the leading cause of the shortage, nor a silver bullet solution," college president Elizabeth Moore said.
"While it would be a helpful step in the right direction, Australia needs a nationally co-ordinated workforce growth plan with federal, state, and territory governments working together to attract, train, and retain a sustainable pipeline of both local and overseas-trained psychiatrists."
Pramudie Gunaratne says doctors are sick of propping up a broken system. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Dr Moore has written to Premier Chris Minns to warn of the "very real impact" of the loss of experienced psychiatrists from the public system.
They have asked for a 25 per cent pay rise, a figure the state government has insisted it can't afford, and highlighted poor work conditions due to understaffing.
The college's NSW chair, Pramudie Gunaratne, said doctors were sick of propping up a broken system.
Dr Wright denied the state's plan to have other healthcare workers - such as nurses and allied health professionals - take on some of the psychiatrists' workload would overburden them or reduce the overall quality of care.
"It's quite clear many groups, whether it be nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, social work … are often working well below their scope of practice," he said.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler did not respond to a request for comment.
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