Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to expand the types of talking therapy available to patients seeking mental health support in Devon, provide alternatives for those who aren't receptive to talking therapies, and give patients a greater choice of therapist.

In Devon, the NHS Talking Therapies service, TALKWORKS, has expanded the range of therapies available for people with common mental health problems. This includes interpersonal therapy, counselling for depression, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing, alongside cognitive behavioural therapy. The service has also introduced a treatment pathway for people with prolonged grief disorder and continues to explore further evidence-based therapies.

Patient choice is a core part of TALKWORKS. Patients can specify a gender preference for their therapist and requests to change therapist are supported.

The Devon Partnership NHS Trust also provides a range of psychological therapies through its specialist mental health services. These vary according to clinical guidelines, local need, and available local expertise, and where a person’s needs indicate that alternative approaches, interventions, or clinicians would be beneficial, these are offered wherever possible. The trust has secured additional funding to expand dialectical behaviour therapy and provides art, music, and drama therapies as well. It is also working with local voluntary sector partners to further develop alternatives to traditional talking therapies.