Strict privacy laws have made it hard for Canberrans with mental illness to access timely treatment, prompting health workers to call for immediate changes.
The group has called for the territory's health privacy laws to be redefined to promote greater transparency so information can be shared between health providers.
The call has been made as part of a review into the territory's mental health system, which found "high levels of dissatisfaction" within the services.
The report from Deep End Canberra, a network of doctors and nurses working with disadvantaged patients, has recommended extensive changes to mental health services.
"A systems reform approach is required; tinkering is insufficient," the report said.
The report found one of the key issues for patients was access to care and a lack of communication between the public health system and primary care providers.
The review found communication was hindered by the territory's strict interpretation of health privacy laws with some within Canberra Health Services reluctant to share information about a patient with their treating practitioner.
One of the key recommendations was for government health officials to reinterpret or redefine the application of privacy laws so transparency is the default.
The report said privacy should not impede timely access to information by members of the shared care team.
"There is too much anxiety around consensual information sharing," the report said.
"More progressive privacy laws are required where transparency should be an expectation/the default across everyone involved in the person's clinical care to promote clinical and relevant community information sharing to facilitate patient journey through and between the systems."
The review said the change could be implemented immediately and would not necessarily require a legislative change, as it could be an issue of interpretation.
The ACT government promised a review in 2022 of how privacy laws are interpreted. Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith told The Canberra Times officials had a strict interpretation of the Health Records Act.
Privacy laws have previously been used to block the release of COVID-19 data and information about alleged violent incidents.
Families and carers have also reported being excluded from plans to support their loved ones in the territory's mental health system due to privacy laws.
Research found the withholding of information of health services to families meant they were often left unaware of what was going on.
The review of the ACT's mental health care services system was prompted after general practices and primary care organisations became increasingly aware the system was not meeting the needs of people.
Deep End Canberra member and general practitioner Peter Tait said there had been a simmering dissatisfaction among health workers and they measured this through a survey and two workshops, which informed the report's recommendations. It was supported by the Australian Medical Association ACT and the Capital Health Network.
Dr Tait said there was a commitment from Canberra Health Services to improve issues within the system and the organisation had worked with the group on the report.
"They are trying to work in a system that is broken for them as it is broken for us," he said.
"We need reform, we need it now.
"This needs to be tempered with the fact there are already people working on reform and we're looking for tripartisan support both from the political level as well as being able to continue working with people in Canberra Health Services to make the changes."
