Politicians give praise and support to BACP parity report

At its launch event at the Houses of Parliament yesterday, politicians praised BACP's new report, Psychological therapies and parity of esteem: from commitment to reality.

Rt Hon Norman Lamb MP, Minister of State for Care and Support, said:

"I am absolutely committed to achieving equality between mental and physical health services. This report rightly highlights the urgent need for us to achieve this in order to improve people's lives across the UK. I hope that those involved with delivering or commissioning mental health services consider the innovative recommendations it puts forward to help make this vision a reality within our NHS."

Rt Hon Paul Burstow MP said:

"When I wrote parity of esteem into the Government's mental health strategy I was clear there could be no health without good mental health. We have come a long way, this report builds on the strategy and the recommendation of the mental health commission I chaired for CentreForum earlier this year. I strongly welcome its practical approach to accelerating progress towards real parity of outcomes, rights and funding."

Other speakers at the event included:

Luciana Berger MP, Shadow Minister for Public Health James Morris MP, Chair of the APPG on Mental Health Andy Bell, Deputy Chief Executive at the Centre for Mental Health Dr Mike Shooter CBE, President of BACP

The innovative report, which has drawn on the knowledge of experts in the field, BACP members and psychological therapy service users, sets out a series of practical recommendations to make parity of esteem in the NHS a reality in relation to psychological therapies.

Dr Mike Shooter CBE, President of BACP, said:

"The current disparity of treatment and services for people seeking psychological therapy compared to people receiving physical health treatment from the NHS must be urgently addressed."

"This pioneering report successfully articulates how parity of esteem can be achieved in relation to psychological therapies across key areas, including choice, waiting times and funding. We have made practical recommendations on the commissioning and delivery of psychological therapy services, and we look forward to working to make these solutions a reality."

Andy Bell, Deputy Chief Executive at the Centre for Mental Health, said:

"Too many people with mental health problems are unable to get access to the support they need to recover and enjoy a fairer chance in life. The costs of this disparity are high and the consequences for the people affected can be devastating.

"Improving access to psychological therapies for people of all ages across the NHS is a vital step to create a fairer and more efficient health and care system. We need to ensure that we have an equal entitlement to timely, high quality evidence-based mental health support as we have to treatments for physical conditions."

BACP is a professional body and a registered charity that sets standards for therapeutic practice and provides information for therapists, clients of therapy, and the public. We have over 40,000 members, working within a range of settings, including the NHS, schools and universities, workplaces and private practice, as well as third sector environments including voluntary, community and pastoral settings.

We are committed to providing prompt responses to media enquiries, drawing on our extensive member network of experts and spokespeople. For all media enquiries, call our media team on 01455 883 342, or email media@bacp.co.uk. For non-media enquiries please call our main switchboard on 01455 883 300.