News from our partners: Patients tell Healthwatch about their experiences of NHS psychological services.

News from our partners Healthwatch Shropshire

Shropshire Healthwatch and Telford & Wrekin Healthwatch have heard from patients of the Shropshire Primary Care Psychological Therapies Service (also known as IAPT) and Telford IAPT.

These services are at the forefront of support and therapy to help people to deal with mild and moderate depression and anxiety. The NHS is looking at how these services are organised and are keen to understand people’s experiences.

Healthwatch heard that the most positive aspects of the services were the quality of staff and therapy. The aspects which received most negative feedback were the waiting times and communication with the services.

Lynn Cawley, Chief Officer of Healthwatch Shropshire, said:-

“We knew that depression and anxiety levels in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin have increased since the start of the pandemic. We wanted to hear from patients and ensure that their voice was at the centre of any service development.”

Frances Sutherland, Head of Transformation and Commissioning (Mental health, LD & A) Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care System, said:-

“We are currently reviewing our IAPT services and how they function. We are undertaking a change and efficiency project to harmonise our services across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and aim to build on the good practices already established, developing areas in need of improvement. We would like to thank all the respondents for their honest comments and we will use the report to support service development further.”

Barry Parnaby, Chair of Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin, said:-

“We asked for patients to give us suggestions on how the service can be improved and are very pleased to know that the IAPT services are looking at these as they consider how to improve services.”

People can read the full report here www.healthwatchshropshire.co.uk/report/2022-07-14/psychological-services-shropshire-telford-wrekin

Healthwatch is the independent health and social care champion. It gathers the views and experiences of patients, service users, carers, and the general public about services including hospitals, GPs, mental health services, community health services, pharmacists, opticians, residential care and children’s services.  It also has statutory powers that it can use to influence service provision by encouraging improvements.