Imperial Innovations Group plc: Investment in PsychologyOnline

Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations', or 'the Group') a leading technology commercialisation and investment company, has invested £0.5m in new portfolio company, PsychologyOnline, a Cambridge-based provider of clinically-proven online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for the treatment of depression.

Launched in 2010, PsychologyOnline delivers real time therapy to NHS and private patients with a live therapist via the internet, allowing them to attend sessions in their own home, at times that suit them. Waiting times are reduced to a few days, compared with up to several months for NHS face-to-face services. All PsychologyOnline therapists are experienced Chartered Psychologists or accredited Psychotherapists and are UK trained and accredited.

The company was founded by two Chartered Psychologists who recognised the scarcity of easily available psychological support to patients. The service is already available to NHS customers in some areas in the UK and the additional funding will enable PsychologyOnline to offer its service to a broader range of both NHS and private patients.

Despite being considered both preventable and treatable, depression costs the UK up to £9 billion a year in lost earnings and there are thought to be around 350m people suffering from depression worldwide. CBT is used widely within NHS mental health services as a NICE-recommended treatment for anxiety and depression. However, high demand can mean a long wait for patients and it is estimated that only a quarter of those with mental illness are currently receiving treatment.

The effectiveness of PsychologyOnline's service was demonstrated in a 300 patient clinical trial undertaken at three universities and NHS Trusts, including UCL, which was published in The Lancet in 2009. An average of just six sessions of online therapy was needed for recovery from moderate to severe depression compared to between 16 and 20 for NHS face to face services. Follow up client assessments at four and eight months confirmed that the benefits were maintained.

PsychologyOnline has raised a total of £1.6m from investors so far. Innovations has a 19.6% stake and other investors include Cambridge Angels. Dr Rebecca Todd, Director of Healthcare Investments at Innovations, will join the board of PsychologyOnline.

Susan Searle, Chief Executive Officer at Imperial Innovations, said:

"PsychologyOnline is a great example of how digital and online technologies can improve patient access to healthcare services. We are pleased to back this exciting company at a key time in its development and look forward to a time when all patients can easily access the kind of rapid and convenient healthcare service that PsychologyOnline offers."

Barnaby Perks, CEO of PsychologyOnline, said:

"Our service is already making a difference to NHS patients in areas such as Surrey. This investment will help us to increase the roll out of our service and offer it more widely to patients across the UK. We are also developing our private offering to support those who want a more discreet and confidential service without going via their GP."

Male mental health problems need more attention

Over the past 30 years three to four times more men have taken their own lives than women, and at no point during this period has the rate of suicide in women been higher than that of men. This raises questions about why we haven't been thinking about the psychological needs of men and boys sooner.

Men's Health Week aims to raise awareness of this and other mental health problems that men face. Traditionally, men are reluctant to seek help, have high levels of isolation, high rates of drug and alcohol misuse, are at greater risk of homelessness, display more externalised and destructive behaviours, and are more involved with the criminal justice system. Underlying many of these experiences are complex psychological problems, but rarely do we empathise with their causes.

Men are more often portrayed as villains, perpetrators and the causes of problems, and we can become too focused on the externalisation of mental distress in men through alcohol abuse, aggression and other anti-social behaviours. Such behaviours also attract a punitive response from services.

If these behaviours are the result of unacknowledged complex traumatic backgrounds and mental health difficulties, a punitive response is only likely to make a bad situation worse. Anger, one of the few sanctioned male emotions can often indicate that someone is feeling bad about themselves, seems to have been excluded from mental health services. It is not surprising that 90% of the male prison population is estimated to have mental health problems. A more empathic approach to understanding the psychological wellbeing of men and boys is needed, says Luke Sullivan of The Guardian.

To read more on this story, click here.

New study finds depression treatments "can extend life"

Researchers have shown for the first time in a randomised trial that treatment for major depression can reduce overall mortality rates in older patients.

The study

US researchers identified 1,226 patients over the age of 60 years from 20 primary care practices who were randomised to an intervention or a usual care group. The intervention included educational sessions for GPs and patients’ families and a ‘depression care manager’ in the practice who monitored symptoms and offered psychotherapy or an increase in antidepressant dose if indicated. This study looked at the mortality risk after long term follow (up of 98 months through 2008).

The findings

After long-term follow-up (98 months), patients with major depression in the intervention group had a 24% lower mortality risk, compared with those who received usual care. The HR of minor depression in the intervention group versus minor depression in the usual care was 1.18. Those with major depression in the intervention group had a similar mortality rate to those without depression (HR 1.09), while patients with major depression in the usual care group had almost double the mortality rate, compared with those without depression (HR 1.90).

Read more on the Pulse website.

19th June 2013

Mental health care for pregnant women has 'worrying gaps' says NSPCC

There are "worrying gaps" in mental health services for pregnant women, a charity has warned.

The NSPCC said that women face a "postcode lottery" of services because less than half of mental health trusts in England have specialist services for expectant and new mothers.

The wellbeing of more than one in 10 newborn babies across the country could be improved if all new mothers with mental illness had equal access to good services, a report by the charity suggests.

Mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia can begin or escalate when a woman is pregnant or after her baby is born.

The charity said that many of these illnesses are preventable or treatable but in some areas NHS commissioners are "not giving mums' mental health the priority it deserves".

It is calling on ministers to "fill gaps in services" and to ensure that the mental health of mothers is given the same importance as their physical health.

Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "This report clearly shows that with the right services, it is possible to prevent the harm caused by maternal mental illness. But opportunities to help many more families are being missed.

"We have to start treating the mental health of mums and babies with the same importance as their physical health.

"Pregnancy and the first months of a child's life are critical for their future wellbeing and parents naturally play a vital role. If the Government is serious about giving every child the best start in life it must take action to fill the gaps in services."

Read more on The Huffington Post website.

17th July 2013

Libraries begin stocking self-help books for depression

GPs will be able to direct people with conditions such as depression, phobias and eating disorders to self-help books in their local library under a scheme starting today.

The ‘Reading Well: Books on Prescription’ scheme supplies books based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques to help people understand and self-manage common mental health conditions.

The scheme was launched last week by independent charity The Reading Agency, the Society of Chief Librarians and local library services.

Books will be made available in participating libraries from from today. The scheme is supported by NICE guidelines, the RCGP and the Royal College of Nursing.

At the launch of the scheme, Dr James Kingsland, a GP in Merseyside and national clinical lead for NHS clinical commissioning, said: ‘Reading Well: Books on Prescription is brilliant. It will enable me and my fellow GPs to recommend book-based CBT from libraries. This can be a stand-alone treatment or alongside medication and other psychological interventions.’

To read more, click here.

11th June 2013

Job opportunity: We are looking for ASP.NET Web developer

We need an ASP.NET wizard for our web development team, who will have development & operational responsibilities.

• ASP.NET MVC4, Razor, C#
• Full time
• £20-40k, dependant on experience
•  Based in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire (soon to be relocated in Swavesey)

About PsychologyOnline

Our main business is the provision of online therapy through a network of affiliated qualified and experienced therapists. We are a small company but we are expanding rapidly. The role of the development team is to design and build our innovative online therapy platform. We have an agile, flexible and responsive approach to software development.

Oh, and on sunny days we enjoy sharing a BBQ outside the office!

About you

We are looking for a brilliant web developer with inspiration and flair, whose main focus will be on the front-end of the development stack.

In practice this means that you understand user interaction and can translate complex requirements into an easy to use and engaging system, drawing inspiration from social media sites, e-learning systems, resource management systems, etc… Because we are a small team, you may also be required to work on all other parts of the system, such as data architecture, business logic, etc..... You need to be flexible and versatile.

Are you enthusiastic, with experience, vision and innovative ideas? Can you take your work seriously without taking yourself too seriously?!

We do everything in house, so here's an opportunity for you to see your ideas put into practice and to influence business development.

Essential:

• ASP.NET MVC4, Razor, C#
• HTML, CSS
• Javascript, jQuery
• legally able to work in the UK

Work will include interfacing with Entity Framework back-end, building HTML5 & CSS themes, and creating great user experience with jQuery and other libraries.

Desirable:

• Skills such as using source control, bug triage, project management
• Some experience of agile development methods
•  Degree-level education
• Some Experience with Quantify-self applications would be great

How to apply:

Please send your CV to info@psychologyonline.co.uk and tell us a little about yourself: your situation, background and personality.

Children with a parent in prison are twice as likely to face mental health problems later in life

Children with a parent in prison are twice as likely to be disruptive in school and face mental health problems later in life, says a report to be published later today.

The report, from the children’s charity Barnardo’s, urges every school to appoint a designated teacher to look after the needs of the estimated 200,000 children a year who find themselves in this position.

“The children of prisoners are a group hidden from view,” said Alison Worsley, the deputy director of strategy at Barnardo’s. “All the evidence suggests they are highly vulnerable and often face extensive challenges to their education and wellbeing.”

The report says – as there are around 36,000 schools in England and Wales – there is a strong possibility that the vast majority of schools have at least one pupil with a parent in prison. One Oxfordshire headteacher estimated that at least two children in every class at her school was in that position.

“Parental imprisonment has a direct impact on children’s academic attainment, socio-emotional development and behaviour, often escalating to school exclusion or truancy,” the report adds.

“Yes, I’m naughtier at school,” one 13-year-old whose stepfather is in prison told researchers. “I’m getting removed from lessons for being naughty and joking around. Sometimes I just get angry.”

A mother whose partner was in prison said of her daughter: “Her school work is terrible. Everything in her report was about the past few months. It’s quite obvious what’s affecting it.”

The Barnardo’s research also shows that at least 25 per cent of children over the age of 11 with jailed parents are at high risk of mental health problems.

The majority of imprisoned parents are fathers, but up to 18,000 pupils a year are separated from jailed mothers says Richard Garner of the Independent.

Read more here.

5th June 2012