IAPT programme struggling to achieve targets

The Government’s flagship scheme to expand access to psychological therapies is struggling to achieve its targets, with recovery rates dipping and patients in some areas waiting over a year for treatment, according to Pulse.

A Pulse investigation found that CCGs in many areas were struggling to roll out the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme to all the intended target groups, and that over two-thirds were reporting waiting times longer than the 28-day maximum target.

Funding for the IAPT programme was also variable, ranging from £1.76 to £14.55 per head of population across CCG areas.

The results come as experts question whether the IAPT programme was cost effective and if it was reaching the right people.

The latest quarterly figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre on the IAPT programme showed that although the number of patients accessing treatment went up in the first quarter of this year, the proportion of patients moving to recovery slipped back from 47% in the final quarter of 2012/2013 to 43% in the period from April to June this year, against a target of 50% of treated patients.

Overall more than 80,000 people in the system are still waiting for treatment more than a month after they were referred.

Data obtained by Pulse under the Freedom of Information Act from 85 CCGs reveals that 68% report treatment waiting times longer than the 28-day maximum target. Around half of these are down to longer waits for higher intensity therapy, with many areas reporting waiting times of three to five months for higher-intensity therapy while some have waits of over 12 month