Calderdale leads the way with mental health support following positive rating

Accessibility to talking therapies for those with anxiety and depression, and work to reduce waiting times for psychosis treatments were two of the areas singled out by NHS England as Calderdale’s mental health services received a ‘Good’ rating for 2017/18.

In 2017/18 5.37 per cent of people diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression started underwent talking therapies through the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT). 54 per cent of these people were then discharged from their treatment, and moved on to recovery.

Read: Halifax couple win Convenience Retailer of the Year at prestigious awards ceremonyRebecca Hughes, Service Lead at Insight Healthcare who provide a range of IAPT services and talking therapies for people with anxiety and depression registered with GP practices in Calderdale, said: “Over the years we have seen a steady increase in the number of people accessing our service which is fantastic to see. Social media and mental health awareness campaigns have definitely had an impact by shining a light on the importance of talking and supporting each other.

“In the last couple of years we have focused on improving the access to specific groups such as perinatal mums and dads - offering quicker access to appointments, people with long term health conditions – providing therapy in their local GP practice and those subject to issues of domestic abuse via a direct referral pathway from the Domestic abuse hub.

“At some point all of us will struggle with our mental wellbeing - through crisis, life changing events or just from the ebbs and flows of real life. At Insight healthcare Calderdale, we think it’s vitally important that everyone has access to the support and the resources they need to work through those challenges build on their resilience and learn healthy ways of coping.”

Calderdale’s mental health services are also performing well when it comes to Early intervention in psychosis waiting times, where 96% of people with first episode of psychosis starting treatment within two weeks of referral.

John Keaveny, Deputy District Director for Calderdale and Kirklees, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundations Trust said: “In Calderdale we provide a range of services that help people to access mental health support in different ways.

"Through our IAPT services people can access talking therapies, attend stress management and wellbeing courses, or even just talk to someone when they need to – whichever is best suited to them.

Read: Traditional Calderdale mill is up for sale and has planning permission to convert into apartments"Putting people first and at the centre of care is a priority for us so we are committed to helping people access services quickly and in a way that is most convenient to them."

Dr Caroline Taylor, Mental Health lead at NHS Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We live in a stressful time which makes it extremely important that we are all aware of our own emotional wellbeing. I am very proud that the evidence supports our belief that in Calderdale we have easy access to excellent, effective, timely talking therapies to support us when we are struggling."