Joint study says earlier mental health care could save £600 million and improve 7 million lives 

One of the largest projects of its kind to date, the research which analysed anonymised data was conducted by ieso Digital Health in partnership with Dorset Healthcare University NHS Trust and the University of York’s York Health Consortium.

It said reductions could produce an annual saving of around £600 million on average for people with all levels of anxiety and depression severities, by helping the estimated nearly 7.1 million people  currently in need, but not accessing NHS Talking Therapies. 

Said Ana Catarino, Director of Clinical Science at ieso: “The prevalence of mental health conditions is increasing due to the cost-of-living crisis and the fallout from the pandemic, with one in six UK adults believed to have depression or anxiety, that’s 9 million adults, so, the savings could actually be in the hundreds of millions.” 

Using modelling employing mental health systems data, the report compared the cost-effectiveness of different interventions, to show the principal drivers of healthcare costs in relation to waiting and treatment times, and treatment effectiveness.

In most healthcare systems the clinical effectiveness of mental healthcare remains unquantified, and long treatment times are common said ieso Executive Vice President of Impact at ieso Andrew Welchman.

“Modelling real-world healthcare data in this way, allowed us to show how important it is to provide rapid access to effective mental health treatment. 

“The study has provided important insights into the key factors influencing health and economic outcomes. As this data was used to track individuals through their treatment in a real-world setting, it provided information on number of sessions, waiting times, treatment requirements, and engagement with treatment, which reflected true human behaviour in a clinical practice.”

 Pic: Matthias Zomer