Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for patients referred for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention therapy for OCD within NHS mental health services in England.

In England, people with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are supported through NHS Talking Therapies, which provide National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended psychological treatments, including cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

For the most recent published data, in February 2026, the average waiting time from referral to first treatment for referrals where CBT was the first treatment was 28.2 days. In that month, 10,502 referrals began a course of CBT.

The recommended psychological treatment for OCD is CBT with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). However, current national data does not distinguish between CBT delivered with ERP and CBT delivered without ERP. It is therefore not possible to report separate waiting times specifically for ERP.