(2) what the process is for monitoring the effectiveness of personality disorder placements in the (a) private and (b) public sector; what his most recent assessment is of that effectiveness in each case; and on what evidence he bases that assessment.
Information is not collected by the Department on the proportion or cost of personality disorder placements made in the private sector. Decisions on funding these clinical treatments are made by local and regional specialised commissioning groups and all placements and local service provision is funded through the patient’s primary care trust (PCT).
Information is not collected centrally on the effectiveness of personality disorder placements commissioned by PCTs from the private sector. The national Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) programme is currently developing models of intervention in the national health service and National Offender Management Service. This programme is undertaking several research and evaluation projects, two of which are expected to deliver their results at the end of 2009.
Earlier evaluations in respect of other personality disorder/DSPD service developments were set out in the Department’s 2003 guidance for NHS trusts, “Personality Disorder—No Longer a Diagnosis of Exclusion”. This guidance has been placed in the Library.
(2) what forms of psychotherapy treatment for depression were considered by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence as baselines to its guidance in psychotherapy treatments other than randomised controlled trials.
The Department has made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline “Depression: Management of Depression in Primary and Secondary Care”, published in 2004, identifies cognitive behavioural therapy as one of the principal treatments for depression but also recommends a number of other therapies for use alongside it, including counselling, interpersonal therapy and couples or family therapy.
NICE is currently reviewing this guidance and expects to publish an updated version in September 2009.
NICE'S guidance is based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and is subject to public consultation during its development. Full information on this clinical guideline is available on the NICE website at:
http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG23