Imperial psychotherapy services to be potentially cut

Imperial College Health Centre (ICHC) is set to lose funding for psychotherapy services later this year under new NHS plans.

Under current proposals from the NHS Central London Clinical Commissioning Group, the body responsible for commissioning health services, primary care centres across Westminster may see their budgets for psychotherapy cut at the end of June. Psychotherapies would instead be delivered through a centralised service, as part of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme. However the CCG is undergoing further consultation with practices and therapists, due to the outcry generated by the initial proposal.

ICHC, which is located in Prince’s Gardens, is one of a number of practices that has raised concerns over the changes, which were initially set to take effect in March. Under the new system, ICHC could see the amount of psychotherapy it can offer cut by 60%. Students and staff, who make up the majority of ICHC’s patient cohort, along with local residents, may have to go elsewhere to access psychotherapy services.

Under the new proposals, ICHC would only be able to offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and would have to cut the psychodynamic therapy they offer – a loss of three days a week. This reduction would likely have a knock-on effect on Imperial’s in-house counselling service, which has been struggling with student demand over the last few years.

The rationale from the Clinical Commissioning Group is that the change would improve borough-wide accessibility – since not all GP surgeries currently offer psychotherapy sessions – and make it easier to assess treatment outcomes and ensure good clinical governance.

However, clinicians at ICHC have cited potential barriers to accessibility, as patients may have to travel further to reach their appointments. Concerns have also been raised over the potential impact that the loss of psychotherapy services will have on the multi-disciplinary team approach offered by the Health Centre. This currently enables them to support, in-house, many of those with more complex mental health needs.

This move comes as psychiatry services in the NHS are coming under increasing pressure. The number of patients seeking help for mental health problems like eating disorders or substance abuse problems has hit a record high, while a lack of services has meant an increasing number of patients are having to get sectioned before they can access treatment. A recent report from the King’s Fund showed mental health budgets were expanding at a much slower rate than physical therapy services, prompting concerns that patients were receiving poorer quality care as a result.

Psychotherapy, a broad term covering a range of non-pharmaceutical therapies, is widely used as a treatment for a number of mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. CBT is one of the most well-known forms, but other types include psychodynamic psychotherapy and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT).