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Publication, Part of

Psychological Therapies: reports on the use of IAPT services, England December 2019 Final including reports on the IAPT pilots and Quarter 3 2019-20 data

Official statistics, Experimental statistics

Publication Date:
12 Mar 2020
Geographic Coverage:
England
Geographical Granularity:
Care Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups, GP practices, Independent Sector Health Care Providers, Mental Health Trusts, NHS Trusts
Date Range:
01 Dec 2019 to 31 Dec 2019

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Outcomes

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Outcomes

Outcomes in IAPT are measured in terms of three measures:

  • recovery,
  • reliable improvement,
  • and reliable recovery.

Recovery

Recovery in IAPT is measured in terms of ‘caseness’ – a term which means a referral has severe enough symptoms of anxiety or depression to be regarded as a clinical case. A referral has moved to recovery if they were defined as a clinical case at the start of their treatment (‘at caseness’) and not as a clinical case at the end of their treatment, measured by scores from questionnaires tailored to their specific condition.

The Government target is that 50% of eligible referrals to IAPT services should move to recovery.⁵

50.7% of eligible referrals moved to recovery

Calculating Recovery rates

In December 2019, the calculation to calculate the recovery rate is performed as below:

21,448 / ( 44,925 - 2,599  ) * 100 = 50.7%

Sub-national recovery rates are published in the Monthly Activity Data File as column ‘RecoveryRate’.

Reliable improvement

A referral has shown reliable improvement if there is a significant improvement in their condition following a course of treatment, measured by the difference between their first and last scores on questionnaires tailored to their specific condition.

66.7% of referrals finishing a course of treatment showed reliable improvement

Calculating improvement rates

In December 2019, the calculation is performed as below:

29,984 / 44,925 * 100 = 66.7%

Sub-national reliable improvement rates are published in the Monthly Activity Data File as column ‘ImprovementRate’.

Reliable recovery

A referral has reliably recovered if they meet the criteria for both the recovery and reliable improvement measures. That is, they have moved from being a clinical case at the start of treatment to not being a clinical case at the end of treatment, and there has also been a significant improvement in their condition.

48.0% of referrals reliably recovered

Calculating Reliable Recovery rates

In December 2019, this calculation is performed as follows:

20,313 / (44,925 - 2,599) * 100 = 48.0%

Sub-national reliable recovery rates are published in the Monthly Activity Data File as column ‘ReliableRecoveryRate’.

The chart below compares recovery, reliable improvement, and reliable recovery rates across a period of twelve months.

Figure 5: Percentage of eligible referrals having recovered, reliably improved, and reliably recovered, January 2019 to December 2019, England
Download the data for this chart Figure 5: Percentage of eligible referrals having recovered, reliably improved, and reliably recovered, January 2019 to December 2019, England

The chart below shows a further breakdown of the recovery measure in Quarter 3 2019/20.

Figure 6: Breakdown for recovery in a quarter
Download the data for this chart Figure 6: Breakdown for recovery in a quarter

Each quarter, more detailed data are published about activity. The most recent quarterly data, Quarter 3 2019/20,is available. 

For an explanation of the terms used and further information about how measures are calculated in IAPT see the Guide to IAPT data and publications.

 

 

⁵ See p16-17 of The Mandate: A mandate from the Government to NHS England: April 2015 to March 2016, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/386221/NHS_England_Mandate.pdf

Last edited: 21 September 2023 5:08 pm