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.4
In September 2019, the calculation to calculate the recovery rate is performed as below:
24,487 / ( 50,103 - 2,915 ) * 100 = 51.9%
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.
In September 2019, this calculation is performed as follows:
34,084 / 50,103 * 100 = 68.0%
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.
In September 2019, this calculation is performed as follows:
23,305 / (50,103 - 2,915) * 100 = 49.4%
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.
