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Or, people could respond on this list, if they don't mind not making "rapid response." What do you think, Petra? You must have an opinion on this, surely. Sue McPherson ----- Original Message ----- From: Petra Boynton To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 11:34 AM Subject: 10000 more psychologists needed.... This in today's British Medical Journal. There's an opportunity to respond to this in their 'rapid responses' email service if people are interested (you can reply via this link http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/332/7556/1471-a) News roundup UK needs 10 000 extra psychologists London Robert Short An additional 10 000 new clinical psychologists and psychological therapists need to be trained to enable depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia in the United Kingdom to be treated according to the standards of national evidence based guidelines by 2013. Currently, only one person in four in the UK with depression or chronic anxiety receives treatment. Treatment is mostly limited to prescriptions from GPs, but many would prefer the "talking therapies" advocated in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's guidance on mental health. In a report, the mental health policy group of the UK's Centre for Economic Performance has proposed a seven year plan to establish 250 local psychological services, which will each include an average of 40 therapists, to meet the UK's shortfall in psychological treatment. To stagger costs, about 40 services might be set up each year in the next seven years. By 2013 the gross cost of the service would be about £600m (?880m; $1.1bn) a year and annual training costs about £50m. The authors argue that the proposed service would pay for itself because of reduced spending on incapacity benefit. One course of cognitive behaviour therapy costs £750 and results in about a year of extra free of depression, almost two months of extra time in work, and almost two months less on incapacity benefit (one month of which costs £750 if the fall in tax receipts and benefit payments are both taken into account). Most treatment would take place in GP surgeries, job centres, workplaces, or premises provided by voluntary organisations. The Royal College of General Practitioners has expressed support for the idea of a centrally led effort to establish the new service. The chief executives of the mental health charities Mind, Rethink, the Mental Health Foundation, and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health are united in broad support for the increased availability of "talking therapies" on the NHS and reduction in waiting times. "Access to evidence based talking therapies for those who need them should be as big a priority for the NHS as any other proven and cost effective treatment," they said in a joint statement. But Andrew McCulloch, the chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, warned that the report oversells cognitive behaviour therapy to the government and public. "There is a real risk that the government will think that a few sessions of cognitive behaviour therapy in isolation will help people with depression to recover, when it often will not. We need a range of treatments to be made available for people living with depression, especially those whose symptoms are severe." The Depression Report: a New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders is available at http://cep.lse.ac.uk. Petra M Boynton, PhD Lecturer in Health Services Research Department Primary Care and Population Sciences, UCL. Open Learning Unit, Archway Campus 4th Floor, Holborn Union Building, Highgate Hill London, N19 5LW. Tel: 0207 288 3325 Mob: 07967 212925 The Research Companion Messageboard - share your experiences and get support here! www.psypress.co.uk/boynton ___________________________________ COMMUNITYPSYCHUK - The discussion list for community psychology in the UK. To unsubscribe or to change your details visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/COMMUNITYPSYCHUK.HTML For any problems or queries, contact the list moderator at [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask] ___________________________________ COMMUNITYPSYCHUK - The discussion list for community psychology in the UK. To unsubscribe or to change your details visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/COMMUNITYPSYCHUK.HTML For any problems or queries, contact the list moderator at [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]