Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health
Removing Barriers, Achieving Change
Therapies
Evidence shows that psychological therapies can help millions of people in the UK who experience common and severe mental health problems. Many GPs admit giving prescribing antidepressant medications because they can't access talking therapies for their patients.
The impact of that failure is massive - mental ill health costs over £77 billion in England alone and causes suffering to people of all ages. At least one million adults are out of work with mental health problems and countless children miss out on schooling and fail to achieve their full potential because their mental distress is not treated properly. And many people with long-term physical illnesses develop mental health problems, which go untreated.
Barry Davies, 44, from Cheshire, who has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder said: "I found out about CBT about ten years ago. It was really useful and helped me in so many ways. It's like a learnt behaviour and you don't forget the techniques - a bit like riding a bike. You might wobble a bit if you haven't done it for a while but you will always be able to do it. Years ago I had automatic negative thoughts but nowadays its automatic positive thoughts. CBT has more or less reversed the equation."
Therapy for All on the NHS
Sainsbury Centre Lecture
12 September 2005
Psychological therapy should be freely available on the NHS, in accordance with Goverment guidelines, according to Lord Layard. This means that 10,000 more staff need to be trained to deliver such treatment. He was speaking at our lecture on therapies.
Download Layard Lecture (47 KB)
We Need to Talk
The
Sainsbury Centre is a key member of the We Need to Talk group of organisations
that are campaigning for better access to psychological therapies on the NHS.
The campaign centres around:
- the NHS implementing NICE guidance
- the Government increasing funding for therapies
- the NHS measuring waiting times for therapies
- the Department of Health assessing the workforce implications
- regulation of those who provide therapies
- the Department of Health supporting more research into therapies.
Recent Policy Watch
Waiting for psychological therapies causes damage24/07/2008 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. |
32 PCTs to roll out talking therapies12/06/2008 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. |
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Commissioning Toolkit10/04/2008 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. |
Read more Policy Watch items on Therapies.
IAPT Programme
The Department of Health and CSIP are running an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.
Two pilot sites were set up in Doncaster and Newham, and now there are 11 more sites across the country running the programme.
New Savoy Partnership
The New Savoy Partnership is a group of organisations working together to bring psychological therapies to the NHS and improve access for all who need them. It aims to ensure people of all ages and backgrounds who need psychological therapy have appropriate and timely support, delivered by therapists with the right skills, through the NHS.