'COST IN HUMAN TERMS WOULD BE GIGANTIC'
10/11
DERBY'S Mental Health Action Group is campaigning against the proposals.
Representative Simon Rose said the move was a cost-cutting measure.
He said: "The NHS is trying to save money but it's not cost-effective.
"The cost of this therapy is about £4,000 a year but, without the right help, people will end up on mental health wards in hospitals where the cost of a bed is £3,000 a week, plus medication."
And group co-ordinator Phil Binding said he feared patients would be less likely to receive long-term therapy if the changes went ahead. Instead, he believed they would be given short-term help which would not delve deeply into their past and their problems.
He said: "It seems they are trying to make the situation fair by offering the same service across the county.
"But that means that instead of making psychodynamic psychotherapy available to everyone, they're taking it away from those who have it.
"This type of therapy has been available in Derby for about 20 years. If we lose it, we can't imagine that it will come back.
"The cost in money terms may be a saving – though I doubt it – but the cost in human terms will be gigantic.
"People have told me that, without this form of therapy, they might not be here today."
Source: Derbyshire Evening Telegraph, Thursday, October 20, 2011