Does psychological therapy provided by the IAPT-LTC programme improve mental health and reduce health care utilisation and associated health care cost?

Summary

NHS England awarded 'Improving Access to Psychological Therapies' (IAPT) services in the Oxford AHSN region ‘Early Implementer’ funding to lead the way in setting up integrated treatments for patients with long-term conditions (LTCs) alongside mental illness. Four of the first 22 services selected nationally were in the Oxford AHSN region.

This study was carried out by health economist Professor David Stuckler, formerly of the University of Oxford, now based at the University of Bocconi, Italy, supported by NHS South, Central West Commissioning Support Unit. It focused on one of the first groups of patients (more than 450 people) who started receiving new integrated IAPT-LTC treatments in 2017.

Content

The evaluation concluded that after receiving integrated IAPT treatment patients with LTCs:

• reported fewer symptoms of anxiety/depression
• made less use of primary and secondary healthcare services
• will save the health system on average an estimated £1,870 per patient over a two-year period (taking into account IAPT treatment costs).