DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2007/0292) issued by The Government News Network on 10
October 2007
Health Secretary
Alan Johnson today announced a substantial £170 million expansion
of psychological therapies to provide better support for people
with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.
Millions of people suffer from depression and anxiety. These are
the most common of the mental health problems, which account for
40% of the numbers on Incapacity Benefit. Treating them is
estimated to take up about a third of GPs' time.
Psychological therapies have proved to be as effective as drugs
in tackling these common mental health problems and are often more
effective in the longer term. NICE guidelines on treatment for
depression and anxiety recommend therapies, such as cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT).
Building on two demonstration projects, the Government will next
year roll out psychological therapies to twenty new areas before
increasing services to cover the whole country over the next few years.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:
"More than one in six people suffer from mental health
problems at any one time. For many people prescribing medication
is a successful treatment but we know that psychological therapies
work equally well.
"Today's announcement shows the government's
commitment to mental health. Improving access to psychological
therapies will give people with mental health problems a real
choice of treatment, helping to reduce dependence on medication."
By 2010/11, the NHS will spend £170m per year on psychological
therapies, with more than £30m in 2008/09 and more than £100m in
2009/10. Over the next three years, this investment in Improving
Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) will mean:
- 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
- average waiting for psychological treatments down from the
current 18 months to a few weeks (in line with urgent outpatient
waiting times in the rest of the NHS) as the service rolls out
Lord Richard Layard, co-author of the London School of Economics
Depression Report said:
'This is great news and just what we've all been
waiting for. Mental health is the biggest social problem in our
country. This new service will bring relief from misery to
millions of people.
'I'm delighted the Government has committed to
implement the NICE guidelines on treating depression and,
importantly, is doing so in the first big announcement of the new
spending review.'
Health Minister Ivan Lewis said:
"This major expansion of psychological therapies represents
a historic transformation of mental health services in our
country. These new services will ensure people have the support to
cope with anxiety and depression while minimising the stigma
associated with using mental health services."
Notes for Editors:
1. Mental health problems are the largest single cause of
disability and illness in England - accounting for
- 40% of all disability (physical and mental)
- nearly 40% of people on Incapacity Benefit (and a secondary
factor for 10% more of them)
- a third of all GPs' time
2. About 1 in 6 UK adults has a common mental health condition
(i.e. depression or anxiety disorders) and an estimated 91m
working days a year are lost to mental illness. The Government has
set an aspiration to raise the number of working age adults in
employment from 75-80% of the working age population, and has a
target to reduce the number of people on Incapacity Benefit.
3. Huge numbers of people suffering from these conditions are not
getting the treatment they need to bring them out of the misery
these conditions involve. Those in treatment are only
- 1 in 4 of those diagnosed
- less than half of those in a 'depressive episode'
- taking drugs prescribed by their GP, although they would prefer
the more-recently developed 'therapy'
4. Professor Lord Layard of the LSE puts the total economic loss,
in sick leave, lost jobs and reduced output, due to depression and
chronic anxiety at
- £12 billion a year - 1% of our national income
- £7 billion of this hits the taxpayer in incapacity benefits
paid out and income tax not received
5. A review of the policies needed to improve mental health, with
a particular focus on supporting people to gain employment and
stay in employment was announced in the 2006 Budget. The review
recommended that improving the way that people with a mental
health condition are supported and treated, with a holistic
approach engaging individuals, employers, and GPs, as well as
Jobcentre Plus and the wider NHS.
6. GPs play a key role in supporting people with common mental
health problems. Recognising this, Government will be working with
the Royal College of GPs to ensure the curriculum reflects best practice.
7. The two national IAPT demonstration sites at Newham and
Doncaster have achieved:
- Impressive recovery rates that replicate clinical trial and are
in line with NICE guidelines (50-60% on most rigorous measures)
- Excellent recording of treatment outcomes for the first time in
mental health (90%), leading to an opportunity for a nationwide
system of routine outcomes monitoring and thus to more improvements
- Significant achievement in helping people off statutory sick
pay and back to work/volunteering/education/training
- Treating large numbers of people in a short period of time from
a standing start - more than 1,000 in Newham and more than 4,000
in Doncaster
- Meeting previously unidentified and unmet need by opening to
self-referral - in Newham's community people came forward who
were just as ill as those referred by GPs and whose conditions
were twice as chronic (four years long rather than two). They
responded as well as those referred by GPs.
[ENDS]