Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – which provides mental health services in the county – has welcomed Health Secretary Alan Johnson’s announcement of a substantial £170 million expansion psychological therapies.

This cash boost will mean trusts across the country, including Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, will be able to provide better support for people with mental health problems such as anxiety or depression.

Psychological therapy can help with a wide range of difficulties, such as anxiety, panic attacks and phobias, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or eating disorders.

At the Trust, sometimes psychological therapy is offered on its own, and sometimes people will use it in addition to medication.

Nationally, millions of people suffer from depression and anxiety. These are the most common mental health problems, accounting for 40 per cent of the numbers on Incapacity Benefit. Treating them is estimated to take up about a third of GPs' time.

By 2010/11, the NHS will spend £170m per year on psychological therapies, with more than £30m in 2008/09 and more than £100m in 2009/10.

Carol Brady, General Manager of Psychological Therapies at the Trust, said: “This is great news for the mental health community in Lincolnshire. Psychological therapies have proved to be as effective as drugs in tackling these common mental health problems and are often more effective in the longer term.

"This announcement underlines the Government's commitment to mental health. Improving access to psychological therapies will give people with mental health problems in Lincolnshire a wider range of options for treatment."

Over the next three years, this investment in what is known as the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) will nationally mean:

- 900,000 more people treated for depression and anxiety
- 450,000 of them are likely to be completely cured (as expected with NICE guidelines)
- 25,000 fewer people with mental health problems on sick pay and benefits
- 3,600 more newly trained psychological therapists giving evidence-based treatment
- all GP practices having access to psychological therapies as the programme rolls out

Building on two demonstration projects, the Government will next year roll out psychological therapies to twenty new areas before increasing services to cover the whole country over the next few years.