At the third Psychological Therapies in the NHS conference at the end of November, health secretary Andy Burnham said that IAPT services stand or fall on the choice of therapies they can offer clients.

Speaking at the London conference organised by the New Savoy Partnership, Burnham reiterated the Government’s commitment to the IAPT programme, quashing rumours earlier in the year that funding for IAPT would no longer be ring-fenced and might therefore be diverted elsewhere. IAPT had initially prioritised CBT, which was in short supply, Burnham said, but now was the time to broaden choice to all NICE-approved therapies.

In London four out of five IAPT sites were routinely offering non-CBT therapies; the programme pledged to offer ‘fully formed services’ including IPT, counselling, couples therapy and brief psychodynamic therapy. Government was determined to see the programme through, said Burnham. ‘Progress across the country is impressive, with a 47 per cent recovery rate.’ Training, he said, would need to continue for several more years. A key focus of the developing programme should be how to get the most out of experienced counselling and psychotherapy practitioners, he added. Jeremy Clarke, Chair of the New Savoy Partnership, congratulated the conference on having established an effective dialogue with Government; while Peter Stratton from the audience challenged the Government to take a lead in supporting research into non-CBT therapies that NICE is unable to approve.

Psychological Therapies in the NHS conference