Startling findings have found that 44% of therapists in England are delivering at least one therapy session in which they have no formal training1.

This comes following an audit carried out by the Royal College of Psychiatrists examining care received by people with anxiety or depression, who were referred to secondary mental health services.

At the North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, auditors also revealed over a third of patients are receiving a type of therapy that is not recommended for their condition2.

Despite the findings, Brian Hall, chief commercial officer at BHSF, sympathises with staff having to step in to provide care beyond their expertise.

“It is crucial that people with a mental health problem, when they seek help, they feel confident that their therapist has received the right training in order to help them.

“By not giving the right treatments, this is how you could put patients at risk and that is the last thing you want.

“I think what you’ve got is traditional commercial providers who have limited tools in their armoury trying to do their best, same sort of thing is happening in these cases where therapists are trying to deliver beyond their core competencies. However that is because they genuinely care and want to help.”

Worryingly one in seven people experience mental health problems in the workplace3 and Hall feels that this is something that employers should be more attuned to.

“When the NHS is battling to deliver appropriate mental health support, in each case, employers need to recognise the limitations of offering ‘simple’, ‘one size fits all’ solutions around mental health. As take up of BHSF RISE increases, it’s delivery of 360 degree multi-disciplinary intervention is proving to be key.

“What we need is proper case management and 360 degree multi-disciplinary teams available to pick up things. People need to be guided through the system to the right expertise.”

1 and 2 – https://www.wigantoday.net/health/mental-health-patients-getting-wrong-therapy-1884839

3 – https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-mental-health-work