Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people have (a) telephone and (b) digital access to psychological therapies during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps he is taking to ensure that access to those therapies is (i) safe and (ii) confidential.
NHS England has asked all mental health trusts to review advice lines to ensure that 24 hours a day, seven days a week advice is available to people of all ages through a single point of access. Mental health providers are also looking at how they can maximise the use of digital and virtual channels to keep delivering support to existing and new service users.
NHSX has published guidance to support the use of digital and virtual channels, including off-the-shelf applications such as Skype and WhatsApp, and designed-for purpose commercial products. This advice is endorsed by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the National Data Guardian and NHS Digital.