Depression sufferer ‘facing postcode lottery’
People with depression are up against a postcode lottery for important treatment, it has been claimed.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recently recommended that a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) programme should be available to depression patients, reports the Sunderland Echo.
Beating the Blues is a computerised treatment which teaches changes in behavioural patterns in order to combat the condition.
However, Ultrasis - the group that developed the program - claims just 33 per cent of patients in Sunderland currently have access to it.
Nigel Brabbins, Ultrasis chief executive officer, said the government needs to honour its pledge to make it available nationwide from April 2007.
"We have recently met with Department of Health officials to ask that they deliver on ministers’ promises by ensuring that Beating the Blues is available in every GP surgery and for everyone who needs it, therefore bringing to an end the current postcode lottery."
It has been calculated that Beating the Blues could save the NHS an estimated £126 million per year.
The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with depression
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