Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:881-886
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Private and public psychiatry: a comparison of two health care systems
G Andrews
Clinical Research Unit, University of New South Wales, St. Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst, Australia.
Psychiatrists in Australia and New Zealand are similarly trained, but the
health care delivery systems in each country differ. Australia has
unlimited insurance for fee-for-service private practice and has twice the
psychiatrists and half the psychiatric beds per capita as New Zealand.
Psychiatrists in the public sector in each country focus on hospital-based
care of psychotic patients. Private-sector psychiatrists, in addition to
caring for psychotic patients, also focus on psychotherapy for neuroses and
personality disorders. The Australian combination of more psychiatrists in
private office practice and fewer public hospital beds costs less than the
New Zealand system, which supports only public-sector, hospital-based
services.
