Counselling provision, prescribing and referral rates in a general practice setting

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of employing counsellors in general practice on the psychotropic drugs prescribed and referral rates to mental health services. Data were obtained from 85 practices in the Southern Derbyshire Health Authority area. This included prescribing data for 8 years and referral data for 5 years. The findings suggested that the costs of employing a counsellor could be offset by a reduction in costs elsewhere, although the provision of counselling had no statistically significant effects on referrals or on the volume and cost of prescribing. However, there was some indication that the number of items prescribed was lower among practices with counsellors employed for 4 or more years than for practices with counsellors employed for a shorter period. Studies investigating the impact over time may be more likely to show an effect.