Table 2

The final quality standards*

Quality standardPrLPLOA
 1. Primary care practitioners should advertise that they are available to help young people with mental health difficulties (1)xx
 2. Young people should be able to see a mental health specialist at the GP surgery (3)xx
 3. Primary care practitioners must have up-to-date information about other local services to give to young people (4)xx
 4. Primary care practitioners should have up-to-date information about local specialist mental health services (5)xx
 5. All primary care practitioners should have mental health training (6)xx
 6. Primary care practitioners should discuss other treatment options before prescribing medication to a young person (8)xx
 7. Access to talking therapies needs to be made easier as an alternative to medication for mental health problems (10)xx
 8. Referral times for young people should be as short as possible to reduce the stress experienced while waiting for an appointment (13)xx
 9. For referrals within the GP surgery, primary care practitioners should keep the young person up to date with the progress of the appointment (16)xx
10. If making a referral, primary care practitioners should provide information for young people about what to expect at the first appointment (14)xx
11. Primary care practitioners should discuss ways that you can help yourself overcome the symptoms of mental health problems (20)xx
12. Counsellors need to be more interactive with young people rather than just listen and write notes (19)xx
13. Primary care practitioners should have a strict confidentiality policy, which they state at the beginning of the consultation preventing them from disclosing information to members of the young person's family (25)xx
14. Primary care practitioners should appreciate that young people can feel embarrassed to seek help and should reassure them that mental health problems are common (23)xx
15. Primary care practitioners should ask questions about young persons’ relationships and support network (27)xx
16. An ideal place for help with mental health problems would offer a variety of treatments for young people (38)xx
  • *This is the final set of quality standards—the number in parentheses refers to the original number in online supplementary table S3.

  • A, amended O, original; PL, patient level; PrL, practice level.