Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health

A group of mental health charities has published a report which says that the lives of those stuck on long NHS waiting lists for psychological treatments are being damaged as a result. Mental health problems can worsen, relationships can break down and some people are forced to take time off from work - or give up a job completely - according to While we are waiting.

National clinical guidelines recommend that psychological treatments should be made available on the NHS, but they remain difficult to access and the wait for patients is long.

Each of the 32 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) will receive a share of the £33 million first instalment of money to help create a new workforce that can offer properly supervised therapy.

The programme began in 2006 with two pilot projects in Newham, East London, and Doncaster. In 2007, 11 PCTs began exploring the specific needs of one or more vulnerable groups.

This toolkit is to help primary care trusts improve or establish stepped-care psychological therapies following NICE guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.

It brings together a wide range of existing tools and guides and includes positive practice examples throughout.

• 900,000 more people treated for depression and anxiety
• 450,000 of them are likely to be completely cured (as expected with NICE guidelines)
• 25,000 fewer people with mental health problems on sick pay and benefits
• 3,600 more newly-trained psychological therapists giving evidence-based treatment
• all GP practices having access to psychological therapies as the programme rolls out

The Department of Health today announced that £170 million would be invested in psychological therapy provision by 2010/11.  Funding will rise gradually over the next three years from the current smaller-scale Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme.

The Department of Health has published this leaflet for the public on CBT, which is the therapy that will be used by the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme to make psychological therapies more widely available, especially for people who have depression or anxiety.

Rethink has published research that makes the economic case for the comprehensive spending review to recommend widespread investment in talking therapies. The report, The Next Lap: Taking mental health to the finishing line, suggests that:

• Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CCBT) should be used more often as it can help people gain and retain employment.
• Getting help to people with psychosis early on can result in significant savings because of lower future hospital admission rates.

Ivan Lewis, the DH Minister for mental health has announced 11 Pathfinder sites for the IAPT programme. They will build on the work already done in Doncaster and Newham. The sites are in:

• Brighton & Hove City PCT
• Buckinghamshire PCT
• Derby City PCT
• Dorset PCT (also strengthening access to mental health care for offenders)
• Ealing PCT
• East Riding & Yorkshire PCT
• Hertfordshire PCT
• North Tees and Hartlepool PCT
• Salford PCT (also women with pre and post-natal mental health problems and people with diabetes)
• Stoke-on-Trent PCT
• Bury PCT (specifically focussing on children and young peoples mental health services)

Patricia Hewitt has announced the expansion of the talking therapies pilots with ten more sites with £2 million funding. She also said that the current sites in Doncaster and Newham, London are showing that quicker access to therapy services can help patients to recover from illness and return to leading an independent lifestyle, particularly in terms of returning to work or finding employment. You can read her speech on the Department of Health website.

The Department of Health wants initial expressions of interest to bid to be one of the new pilot sites by 31 May. They have published guidance on the new sites here.

There is a new positive practice guide to increasing access to psychological therapies. Commissioning a Brighter Future explains why the Government is committed to increasing access and highlights examples of best practice from across England so far. It is intended to guide those developing the new pilot sites.