§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the shortfall in the number of local authority psychotherapists by authority; what proposals he has to increase the number of psychotherapists; and what estimate he has made of the cost to local authorities in each of the last five years of employing psychotherapists in private practice. [130424]
§ Mr. HuttonSeparate figures for the number of specialised psychotherapists employed in health and local authorities are not collected centrally and no estimate has been made of the cost of employing the skills of psychotherapists working in private practice.
We have given a high priority to improving service quality in general in the National Health Service and social care services and to strengthening the work force. The National Service Framework set out how effective psychotherapy forms an important component of mental health care and treatment. The Workforce Action Team under the chairmanship of Sue Hunt is taking forward what education and training of staff is required to deliver the standards set out in the National Service Framework for Mental Health.
The Workforce Action Team will focus not only on specialised psychotherapists but also those professionals with training and responsibility to deliver effective psychotherapies as a component of their role in health and social care.