Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is between a patient being diagnosed with a mental health issue and receiving access to counselling and talking therapies.

Average waiting times from referral date to first treatment appointment date are available in the monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies publications. These are based on referrals entering treatment in the month, rather than patients, since it is possible for a single person to have more than one referral at any particular time.

The latest monthly publication of February 2017 data is available from:

http://www.content.digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB24016