§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research her Department has carried out into counselling versus antidepressants in primary care; with what findings; and if she will make a statement. [31505]
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§ Mr. MaloneThere is no research currently being undertaken by the Department's policy research programme—formerly the centrally commissioned programme.
The national health service research and development programme includes two current projects in its health technology assessment programme, which has identified counselling in primary care as a priority area. One compares the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, and usual treatment by the general practitioner for patients with depression and mixed anxiety and depression. The second is to establish the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of counselling in primary care for patients with chronic depression and anxiety.