1.4 million people referred to NHS mental health therapy over last year

New data has revealed that over one million referrals to NHS talking therapies for depression and anxiety were made last year.

Of the 1.4 million new referrals for talking therapies as part of NHS England’s Increasing Access to Talking Therapies (IAPT) programme, 965,000 people began treatment - a rise of 32,000 from the year before.

As well as increasing numbers of people getting treatment, statistics show that waiting times are decreasing and recovery rates improving. The number of people recovering from their condition has increased on the previous 12 months, with over 50 per cent of patients making a recovery in every month of this year.

The analysis of mental health services, compiled by NHS Digital, shows that: 567,000 people finished a course of NHS talking therapy in 2016/17 - 30,000 more patients than in the year before; waiting times are improving, with 88 per cent of people waiting less than 18 weeks for treatment, and nearly nine in 10 patients less than six weeks; and as well as recovery rates improving to an average of 49 per cent over the course of the year, 65 per cent of patients showed ‘reliable improvement’ as a result of treatment.

Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national director for mental health, said: “Ever increasing numbers of people are getting treated by the NHS and recovering from mental ill health. Talking therapists in the NHS helped nearly one million people last year, and not only are more patients getting help more quickly, but their chances of recovering, thanks to NHS support, are improving significantly.

“However, we are not complacent. Mental health services have for too long been neglected, so even with significant extra funding of more than £1 billion over five years, raising standards of care to a consistently high level will take further years of hard work and continued investment.”