Improving access to psychological therapies formed part of ministerial discussions for the White Paper “Our health, our care, our say”. The two demonstration sites that have been established will provide evidence for a business case on investing in local psychological therapy services across England and will form part of our discussions with the Treasury as part of the comprehensive spending review.
The Government have done a good deal to tackle the Cinderella status of mental health within the NHS, but there remain difficulties with access to psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, where waiting times exceed 12 months in 90 per cent. of primary care trusts. Can the Minister please act to ensure that such talking therapies are made available to all who need them and not just to those whose employment prospects will be improved and, in particular, to widen access to marginalised groups such as children, adults in hospital or in prison and black and minority ethnic communities?
My hon. Friend is quite right to say that waiting times are too long at the moment, particularly for CBT. The point of putting the demonstration sites together is to learn from them exactly what is working so that we can make the case to persuade other areas to follow that example. As well as improving the number of clinical psychologists, it is important to look at the part that other health care professionals can play, particularly in the case of the new graduate workers that we are bringing in, and to look at extra training for health care visitors, for example, so that they can reach out to some of the groups that he has outlined to make sure that they get access to these important therapies.
Will the Minister look at the effect of the delays in psychological services generally and cognitive behaviour therapy specifically on young people, including students? All the evidence is that young people going into early adulthood, particularly at universities and colleges, are the most likely to commit suicide or to self-harm. There are often long waiting lists and no local services available, even with the best will of the universities. Will she see whether she can either buy in more services or allow people to use other services locally to prevent a crisis or worse?
The hon. Gentleman is quite right: it is important that we look specifically at younger people. There are many instances where different agencies could work more closely together. I am talking about some of the personal advisers through the Connexions services and some of the facilities available in schools. We need to look at how we can bring those more closely together to make sure that, when people need those kinds of services, we are able to provide them more readily than they are provided at the moment.
Will my right hon. Friend look closely at the positive results coming from pathways to work pilots, where cognitive behaviour therapy offered by the NHS, but paid for by the Department for Work and Pensions, is having an enormously beneficial effect in improving people’s mental health and allowing people not only to re-enter the work force, but to be happier as human beings? Clearly, that needs to be available in the rest of the country. Will she also look at the evidence that this therapy can be offered not only by psychologists, but by other health care professionals such as nurses and health visitors?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Part of the important work that is being done in the pathways to work pilots is making that connection with employers. There is a lot that employers can do not only to break down some of the stigma and discrimination that there is against people who have mental health problems returning to work and remaining in work, but to support them when they have those difficulties. Again, the demonstration sites, linking with the pathways to work project, show a way in which we can build that into the services that we provide more widely. She is absolutely right that, as I have said, there are other health care professionals who, with a little extra training, can provide some of these services extremely effectively.