While we are waiting

Experiences of waiting for and receiving psychological therapies on the NHS

A report from the Mental Health Foundation, Mind, Rethink, The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health and Young Minds

Waiting times for psychological therapies on the NHS for people with mental health problems have long been acknowledged to be too long.
While no reliable figures exist for how long people have to wait for psychological therapies, waiting times of several months are known to
be commonplace (MHF, 2006) and in extreme cases waits of up to two years have been recorded. This is in stark contrast to waiting times for hospital operations, which are now tightly measured and limited to 18 weeks in most cases.

Read the report (PDF)

Published July 2008