Earlier this month saw the 9th annual New Savoy Partnership conference, Psychological Therapies in the NHS. The conference explored a number of important issues, including the future of IAPT, the wellbeing of IAPT staff and the links between mental health and employment.
One of the first to speak at the conference was Karen Turner, Director of Mental Health at NHS England. Turner explored the roadmap to compassionate mental health care. Turner discussed the likely recommendations from the forthcoming Mental Health Taskforce report, including that NHS organisations should be supported to:
- Promote good practice in managing staff to prevent stress and mental health problems
- Ensure that managers are competent in supporting staff affected by stress or mental health problems
- Access mental health expertise within occupational health services
- Increase access targets from 15 to 25%
- Create co-located teams for the treatment of anxiety and depression for people with long term physical conditions
There was agreement that increasing access to 25% and prioritising a focus on the integration of physical and mental health would be positive and important steps for IAPT. However there were notable concerns from delegates about the practicalities of achieving this. IAPT services are already stretched, and increasing the volume of patients by 10% will certainly add to the strain.
The majority of questions from the floor revolved around funding, investment and training. If IAPT is to expand, how will it be ensured that funds reach the right places? Will the right workforce with the proper skillset be available to support the initiatives? Professor David Clark, National Clinical Lead IAPT at NHS England confirmed that new funding was being made available for training new IAPT therapists.
Turner added that in a devolved NHS, it is difficult to gain a clear overview of the way that funding moves within services, and that this must be managed through accountability and transparency of data, so that people can see what they are getting for their money at a local level. She added that the money saved through IAPT should be considerable—for example by the reduction of prescriptions for medication—and that this money saved should be channelled back into services.
Turner also shared next steps for IAPT, including:
- Expanded choice of therapies
- Greater use of digital platforms
- Expansion of employment advisers
- Recognition of the benefits of IAPT for people with serious mental illness
- IAPT staff training in NICE recommended treatments
- Outcome and reporting monitoring for all patients
You can review the slides from Turner’s presentation here. How do you feel about these next steps for IAPT and about the increased access targets? Share your views and join the conversation by tweeting us at @iaptustweets.
