Indicators

Access to NHS Talking Therapies services for people with depression and/or anxiety disorders

This chart shows the proportion of people with depression and or anxiety disorders who accessed NHS Talking Therapies services per quarter. The figures can be examined from a national perspective or Integrated Care Board level. You can also compare data with up to five other areas.

Exploring the charts: To explore ICBs, click on the tab then click in the box to compare data sets. The lines should trend upwards over time, as performance against this measure is expected to increase year-on-year.

Policy context

The NHS Adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme began in 2008 and aims to implement National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance for people with common mental health problems.

The Government has set out its ambition for at least 25% of people (1.5 million) with common mental health conditions to be able to access psychological therapies through the IAPT programme each year by 2021.

The assessment of whether IAPT access thresholds have been met is based on performance in the last quarter of the year. In quarter 4 of 2017/18, each CCG should have achieved an access rate of at least 4.2% of estimated local prevalence (based on 2007 data), which is equivalent to 16.8% access over the course of a year. By quarter 4 of 2018/19, performance should have increased to 4.75% (19% over a year). Expectations for future years are 5.5.% in Q4 of 2019/20 (22% over a year) and 6.25% in Q4 of 2020/21 (25% over a year). These percentages are based on estimates drawn from the 2000 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity and have been retained to allow areas of different sizes to be compared.

The NHS Long Term Plan sets out a further ambition for an additional 380,000 adults and older adults to be able to access NICE approved IAPT services by 2023/24, with a focus on people with long-term conditions.

A related Government target calls for 75% of people referred to IAPT services to start treatment within 6 weeks of referral, and 95% to start treatment within 18 weeks of referral.