Transforming Improving Access to Psychological Therapies

Abstract

The three commentaries on my paper 'IAPT - The Need for Radical Reform' are agreed that Improving Access to Psychological Therapies cannot be regarded as the 'gold standard' for the delivery of psychological therapy services. Furthermore, they agreed that Improving Access to Psychological Therapies should not continue to mark its 'own homework' and should be subjected to rigorous independent evaluation scrutiny. It is a matter for a public enquiry to ascertain why £1 billion has been spent on Improving Access to Psychological Therapies without any such an independent evaluation. What is interesting is that nocommentary has been forthcoming from the UK Improving Access to Psychological Therapies service nor have they shared a platform to discuss these issues. It is regrettable that the UK Government's National Audit Office has chosen, to date, not to publish its own investigation into the integrity of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies data. Openness would be an excellent starting point for the necessary transformation of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies.

Treating medically unexplained symptoms via improving access to psychological therapy (IAPT): major limitations identified

“…IAPT recently publicised a 50% recovery rate in treating headline mental health complaints [2,3]. However, Scott has shown that the true recovery rate may be closer to 10% [65]. In response, Binnie writes that while it is laudable to critique IAPT recovery statistics, it may be unwise to criticise IAPT, given IAPT is the only service outlet for distressed patients not well served by traditional medical services [66].…”