Dr Ann McPherson, a GP in Oxford and chair of the adolescent task group at the Royal College of General Practitioners, said moves announced last week to give GPs their own budgets to commission services would enable them to boost those that reflected young patients' needs, such as cognitive behavioural therapy and sexual health services.
However, she said they were not required to provide specific services for young people by the quality standards that underpin the General Medical Services (GMS) contract.
"If you ask GPs about children's mental health services, they will tell you it is a problem around the country.
"But the GMS contract is driven by quality standards. Services for young people need to be high on the list to change what GPs commission."
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