Hewitt Hails Talking Therapy Pilots A Success And Announces More To Follow, UK

Following the success of the psychological therapies pilot programme
in Doncaster and Newham, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt today
announced new funding for a further ten pathfinder projects.


At any one time, one in six adults experiences a mental health
problem - more than will suffer from cancer or heart disease - and
many of these suffer from more common problems such as anxiety or
depression. Clinical evidence shows that better access to Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help cure depression and reduce time
off work due to ill-health. Patients also prefer talking therapy,
just one example of CBT, rather than being dependent on medication
alone.



The Department of Health Increasing Access to Psychological Therapies
programme currently has two demonstration sites which are linked to
regional networks of local improvement projects. The sites 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.



Speaking at the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies
conference in London, Patricia Hewitt announced that the ten new
pilots will lead the way in expanding access to talking therapies
across England, backed by investment of ??2 million.



Patricia Hewitt said:



"The blight of mental illness is an issue we are committed to
tackling. Central to our efforts is the ability for people who are
ill to be able to quickly get the right kind of therapy, instead of
being prescribed medication. Mental health services are improving but
we want to offer patients greater choice over how, when and where
they are treated.



"A year ago, I launched two demonstration sites to establish the best
way of providing therapy and to examine the benefits of this
treatment approach. One year on and PCTs are now obliged to provide
computerised CBT to patients.



"The demonstration sites are showing early signs that if you provide
quick access to therapy services, the time that patients are ill is
reduced and individuals are better able regain their independence -
for example by getting or keeping a job.



"I am pleased to announce today the next phase in the programme, with
the establishment of 10 more PCT-led demonstration sites across
England. We have a vision that, one day, people will have the choice
of quickly and conveniently accessing a range of therapy services,
for example via the internet or the local library. But for this to
happen, we need a range of different organisations - such as social
enterprises - to form partnerships with the health sector and apply
to run these new sites. Together we can help to reduce the impact of
mental illness."
















The projects in Doncaster and Newham have proved highly successful -
the Doncaster project alone has already seen 2,500 patients, with
clinical outcomes exceeding the expectations set down by the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), and 9 out of 10
patients saying that they were highly satisfied with the service.



Ann, a patient at the Doncaster project who is speaking at the
conference, suffered from clinical depression. Two years ago, she
underwent a course of CBT and as a result, was able to come off
medication. She now uses CBT as part of an ongoing coping strategy.
Commenting on the benefits of CBT, Ann said:



"Psychological therapy has made a huge difference to my life and
basically helped me to keep functioning.


"CBT involves helping yourself by recognising and challenging
negative thoughts. It is now very much part of my every day existence
and has helped me to get an entirely new, far more positive outlook
on life."



Psychological therapies have more than a purely mental health
benefit. Helping people to cope better with anxiety and depression
can also have a positive effect on physical health, therefore leading
to fewer hospital admissions and less dependency on local GP services
for those who also have a long term condition. Investing in talking
therapies can reduce costs not only in primary and secondary care,
but can also impact other areas of people's lives, for example, by
helping them to get back to work.



The British Psychological Society's President, Professor Pam Maras
said:



"We welcome any opportunity for qualified applied psychologists to
make significant contributions in the expansion of evidence-based
psychological therapies, and to deliver those services in ways that
guarantee high quality and effectiveness for all mental health
problems."



1. Improving access to talking therapies has the potential to save
the economy millions of pounds by helping people with mild to
moderate depression to get back into employment and off incapacity
benefit. About one in three of the 1.3 million people claiming
long-term incapacity benefit in the UK have a mental health problem,
mostly mild to moderate depression.



2. The pilots will provide real evidence of the benefits that can be
gained from increasing access to psychological therapies, both to the
individual and to the local economy. The first two pilot
demonstration sites were given ??3.7 million funding over two years
from the Department of Health.



3. Local people will benefit from the pilots by having:



- Access to coping strategies and support as an alternative to taking
sick leave from work due to depression;


- Better support in the work place from Occupational Health;

- Retaining employment, even where the individual may suffer from
stress, anxiety or depression;


- Enabling people on benefits to return to work more quickly; and


- More choice over their care and treatment.



4. The process for applying for pathfinder site status is as follows:
initial expressions of interest to bid to be one of the pilot sites
should be submitted to the Department of Health by 31 May. These will
then be followed up by local Regional Development Centre leads who
will help sites to develop final, full, applications to be submitted
by 29 June. The successful sites will be confirmed by 20 July. It is
expected that new services should be operational by September.



5. A positive practice guide to increasing access to psychological
therapies was also launched at the conference. Commissioning a
Brighter Future explains why the Government is committed to
increasing access and highlights examples of best practice from
across England. To download Commissioning a Brighter Future and the
other documents launched on the day, visit dh.uk/mentalhealth




dh.uk