8 April 2019

CNWL Talking Therapies services have achieved all their contractual targets for the fifth year in a row.

The services in Brent, Kensington and Chelsea, Harrow, Hillingdon and Westminster saw 25,000 people enter treatment this year, 1,500 more than last year.

The good news is that more people have recovered too, with recovery rates up to nearly 56 per cent.

Talking Therapies is life changing for patients with 90 per cent of patients treated in each service saying: ‘On reflection, I got the help that mattered to me’. 

Talking Therapies provide help for depression, anxiety, phobias, insomnia but are also pioneering therapies to help people manage long term conditions like diabetes, or pulmonary problems. However, there is still more work to do to make treating the mind and body together the routine approach.

Having a long-term health condition is as mentally and emotionally demanding as it is physically. Depression, anger and/or anxiety are common responses. You may think that nobody understands you and that the less physically obvious the condition is, the less others will empathise with you.

Medication and other areas of your life may start to be neglected.

Some parts of life could be more difficult, such as your relationships with others because you might find it hard to explain how your condition affects you. Support can help to understand and accept the way you are feeling, as well as develop new ways of coping.

Key achievements:

  • Exceeding our Long Term Condition (LTC) early implementer pilot goals has meant over 1,850 LTC patients have entered treatment to help them manage their condition – 300 people more than planned.
  • Building on the work started in Hillingdon, the other teams have had great successes, the Harrow Team is embedded in the Diabetes Consultant team in Northwick Park. This is also the case in Brent with the Community Diabetes Team.
  • The Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster staff have become an integral part of diabetes care in some GP surgeries also. It’s a similar position with other teams who provide pulmonary rehabilitation.
  • The outreach work in all the services continues to reach people who are difficult to engage. We have involved more young people by working with sports centre and gym staff and we are also working in care homes with residents and their carers.
  • We have delivered more than 500 workshops engaging different groups across the different services.

(Note: these figures do not include those seen by the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service, which provides trauma therapies, nor Milton Keynes)

Deirdre Moroney, Head of CNWL Talking Therapies Services, said, “I want to thank all staff for all they do; their strong commitment to continuously improving the therapy they deliver and their response to the challenges of managing the ever increasing numbers of patients whilst improving the quality their work, is fantastic.

“The great support we have received from all our commissioners this year has meant funding is now in place to deliver more next year. It will be our biggest challenge yet. We look forward to working together so that those who need our help find the treatment to improve their life.”

Dr Annabel Crowe GP lead for Mental Health North West London Collaboration of Clinical Commissioning Groups

“As with physical conditions, acting quickly and supporting people with their mental health early is important in providing the best possible help and recovery. Talking therapy services provide this support in a range of ways that suit people’s differing needs, but with the main aim of encouraging people to talk. We are really pleased with the service being offered to people in NW London and would encourage anyone feeling anxious or depressed to speak to their GP and seek support from this service.”

For more information and help please see the Talking Therapies website.