"Starting the wrong course of treatment can delay the progress of the individual in making a good recovery."
- Christine Husbands, Commercial Director at RedArc
The nurse-led health & wellbeing specialist believes a lack of access to primary care and ever-stretched NHS mental health services has driven this demand. Notably, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics suggest that even the official NHS England data, which continues to report unprecedented waiting times, could be underplaying the extent of the crisis.
In April 2024, ONS revealed that 9.7mn (21% of adults in the UK) are currently waiting for a hospital appointment, test, or to begin medical treatment via the NHS.
At the time, Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection at Broadstone, said: “With 21% of adults in the UK waiting to access healthcare, it highlights huge problems for businesses when it comes to supporting the health of their employees and reducing sickness absence – an increasingly important C-suite issue.”
READ MORE: 21% of all adults in the UK are waiting for medical care
Although therapy has the potential to transform lives, RedArc says it’s imperative that people are given access to the right type of support for their symptoms or condition(s); the wrong type of therapy can hinder recovery. For example, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) & counselling are popular therapies. Both have merits when recommended following an assessment, but there’s a vast number of other lesser-known therapies that may be more effective.
RedArc highlighted that when the range of mental health-related support is limited – and individuals are required to self-select their own therapy – there is a greater potential for mistakes which could result in worse health outcomes.
Likewise, RedArc noted that there are drawbacks when therapies are time-limited – this is often the case when mental health support isn’t comprehensive. It can take great courage for someone to ask for mental health support, so the nurse-led health & wellbeing specialist believes it's important that support is available for as long as it’s required, to ensure everything is resolved.
“Understandably, when an individual is feeling low, depressed, or has anxiety, it’s not unusual for them to seize whatever support is offered to them, or whatever is currently popular, regardless of whether that support is suitable,” explained Christine Husbands, Commercial Director at RedArc.
She said: “It’s vital to recognise the vulnerability of those with mental health conditions and offer a full assessment in order to direct them to the most appropriate support. Starting the wrong course of treatment can delay the progress of the individual in making a good recovery.
“Mental health therapies should only be recommended by those who fully understand the appropriateness & advantages of different types and have a full spectrum of options at their disposal,” Christine concluded.
