(2) how many treatments of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence-approved cognitive behavioural therapy programmes (a) Beating the Blues and (b) FearFighter have been provided by the 35 improving access to psychological therapy sites; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what recent progress has been made on establishing a national contract for the purchase of treatments for depression under the Beating the Blues programme; and if he will make a statement;
(4) what the average cost to the NHS of treating an individual for depression and anxiety was in the latest period for which information is available; what estimate his Department has made of the effect on those costs of nationwide implementation of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on computerised psychological therapies; and if he will make a statement.
The core aim of the Department's improving access to psychological therapies programme is to support the national health service to implement the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and deliver effective treatment for people with depression and anxiety disorders. Compliance with clinical guidelines published by NICE forms part of the developmental standards for the NHS and NHS organisations are expected to move towards their full implementation. The Department recognises the important contribution of the effective provision of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) and primary care trusts (PCTs) are obliged to provide funding for NICE-recommended cCBT packages where clinicians want to use them, however, the Department does not collect information on the uptake of cCBT.
Information is not held centrally about how many treatments of Beating the Blues or FearFighter have been provided by PCTs.
The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency have provided procurement advice to the NHS. However, the Department is not in a position to ring-fence funds specifically for cCBT, including Beating the Blues, as decisions about local services are made by local commissioners based on local needs assessments.
Information is not held centrally on the cost to the NHS of treating an individual for depression and anxiety so no comparison can be made as to the impact of the nationwide implementation of NICE guidance on cCBT.
This information is not collected centrally.