A contemporary of Mark Zuckerberg has been arrested because there was no independent evidence that her scanners could furnish 100’s of blood results from just a few drops. There is it seems more accountability in Silicon Valley than in the UK mental health services. The IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) target for 2021 was 1.5 million clients at a cost of £680 per client [data from Clark (2018) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050817-084833] the anticipated cost of the service was £1.02 billion. Where is the evidence that this was value for money?
Recently I saw a lady who was suffering from a DSM-5 defined phobia about travelling as a passenger in a car, as assessed with a ‘gold standard’ diagnostic interview. But this was not targetted by IAPT, the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner wrote to the GP thus ‘completed an assessment .. presenting problems identified (please note : this is not a formal diagnosis): GAD and depression. .. waiting list Step 2 CBT Guided Self-Help PHQ9 11 GAD7 8′. This lady was not suffering from GAD or depression and appropriate treatment was not flagged up. There is no evidence that GSH is an evidence based treatment for a specific phobia. IAPT uses diagnostic terms to confer legitimacy on its’ endeavours but then seeks to avoid being held accountable by saying that it does not make reliable diagnoses! With IAPT the NHS has bought a pig in a poke.
Dr Mike Scott
