As we touched on in a recent blog, the NHS’s Talking Therapies, previously Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme currently faces massive demand which far outweighs the service’s capacity.
Each year, one in four of the UK’s population will experience a mental health problem such as anxiety or depression, that could benefit from psychological therapy, and IAPT currently has the capacity to meet just 15% of that need.
Did Not Attend (DNAs): the vicious cycle
The problem is extremely pressing. Over 10% of those referred wait over a year for treatment, and it was found in a recent survey of patients who have attempted to access therapy in the last two years, that while waiting for treatment, 67% of patients deteriorated, 40% harmed themselves and 1 in 6 attempted to take their own life.
One issue which contributes to this problem is referred patients who book sessions but for one reason or another, did not attend (DNA) their appointments.
Figures show that nationally, 23% of patients either fail to attend or cancel their therapy sessions. Regionally, this figure is as high as 40%.
It seems clear that the longer a patient has to wait on a list for their appointment, the more likely they are not to attend, for a variety of reasons.
So, demand for IAPT services continues to grow, though capacity remains fairly static. This results in longer waiting lists, which by turn cause DNAs to increase, wasting valuable appointment time and in turn, increasing waiting lists further.
It’s a vicious circle and one which is set to continue as demand continues to increase.
It’s estimated that by 2030 there will be around 2 million more adults in the UK suffering with mental health problems. As such, it seems the time has come to try something new.
Find out more about the issues faced by the IAPT programme and read about Mayden’s thoughts on a potential solution in our recent white paper, Is it time for a sea change in the uptake of online psychological therapies?
Empower patients to book appointments online, at their convenience. This feature has seen to reduce Did Not Attend (DNAs). Using this feature, services can offer patients the ability to book their own appointments online, at times to suit their schedule. Patients can reschedule their appointment in real time if they can no longer make the appointment.
