The UK government has once again pledged to increase funding for mental health problems although thousands still remain on waiting lists for therapy.

Depression is set to be the biggest health problem alongside heart disease and Ministers vowed to improve access to ‘talking therapies’ in an effort to reduce the £12 billion cost of sickness absence caused by conditions such as depression and anxiety.

This latest ‘vision’ comes after a £170 million programme was promised to train more psychological therapist to ease GPs reliance on prescribing anti-depressant medication.

However, a dozen local health authorities in England report a six-month waiting list to see a trained counsellor while a course of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy can take up to three years.

Date supplied by 90 primary care trusts showed that a third had a wait of three months for counselling of patients suffering mild to moderate depression. However, a quarter guaranteed a counselling session in under six weeks.

Clinical guidelines recommend counselling or CBT before anti-depressants are prescribed but long waits for therapy increase the risk that people will not attend when finally offered treatment. More people are now seeking private therapy in an effort to help combat their illness.

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