Talking Therapies

Your local Talking Therapies services explained 

One in four people will experience depression or anxiety at some point of their lives. Help is available for people whose daily lives are affected.

Talking Therapies services are psychological therapy services tailored to people’s needs and include talking therapies, group approaches, couples therapy and self-help support for people who experience anxiety and depression.

Will I have to pay for Talking Therapies? 

No. Talking Therapies services are free for people to access. NHS Derby and Derbyshire provides the funding for people to access this support.

How do I choose an Talking Therapies provider that’s right for me? 

There are currently four Talking Therapies providers in Derbyshire accepting new referrals. People who are registered with a Derbyshire GP practice can choose from any of these services.

Referrals will be accepted from people aged over 18 years old, although people aged between 16 and 18 will be accepted if they are assessed as benefiting from the service.

All providers offer the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended therapies and approaches for common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

You might choose the provider closest to your home, workplace or family. Alternatively, you may choose the service with the shortest waiting times, the widest choice of types of treatment or the highest recovery or reliable improvement scores.

What are recovery and reliable improvement scores? 

All patients who access the service are asked to complete at least two brief questionnaires at every session. The results of the questionnaires not only let you know if you are improving but also help rate the quality of services patients are receiving.

The target is that at least 50%of people using the service achieve full recovery according to the results of the questionnaires. We call these the “recovery scores”. If the recovery score is 50% or over then this means that more than half of the patients they see fully recover so a high percentage score is very good.

Another way of rating the quality of the service is the reliable improvement score which is the percentage of people who experience a significant improvement in their symptoms.  The target for reliable improvement is 65%. If the reliable improvement rate is 65% or over then it means that more than 65% of patients experience a significant improvement in their symptoms.

How long will I have to wait? 

Waiting times vary. This can be for a number of reasons including waiting longer…

• …for the different types of therapy that the services offer
• …if you want to be seen on a particular day or time
• …if there is a particular location where you wish to be seen.

The target is that all patients should be seen for a first appointment –‘an assessment appointment’ – within 6 weeks of the provider receiving your referral. This is counted from the day you contacted the service or the day the service received the GP referral.

The assessment appointment is where the therapist decides with you if you need to be seen for more sessions – called treatment sessions.

In some services you may need to wait again for a number of weeks until an appointment becomes available for treatment to take place. In others there is only a minimal waiting time between the initial assessment session and when treatment starts. They will also be able to estimate the waiting time between your first and second appointment. 

Waiting times

Everyturn

Referral to assessment: 22 days.

Referral to treatment (various): 127 days.

Talking Mental Health Derbyshire

Referral to assessment: 9 days.

Referral to treatment (various): 71 days.

Trent PTS

Referral to assessment: 38 days.

Referral to treatment (various): 38 days.

Vita Minds

Referral to assessment: 71 days.

Referral to treatment (various): 135 days.

Please note that waiting time data is from December 2024,  last updated: January 2025.

How do I access a local Talking Therapies service? 

There are two ways to be referred:

• Self-referral: where you access the service directly – usually by telephone, referral pack (with information about the service which may have been given to you by your GP) or online
• GP referral: where your GP refers you to the service following a consultation

If the referral is not accepted, you and your GP will be informed, or you may be referred to an alternative, more appropriate service.

If your referral is accepted, the provider will contact you to arrange an initial assessment.

Where can I get more urgent help?

The Derbyshire Mental Health Helpline and Support Service is a freephone service available to everyone in Derbyshire. The helpline – 0800 028 0077 – is for people of all ages and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.

This service is delivered by Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust in partnership with P3, a local voluntary organisation. The helpline team will provide support and listening, and you will be directed to the most appropriate specialist support if needed. 

Update on Talking Therapies Services – statement published on 21 February 2025

NHS Derby and Derbyshire has selected Vita Health Group as the preferred bidder to provide NHS Talking Therapies services in Derby and Derbyshire, from 1 July 2025.

All NHS Talking Therapies services in Derby and Derbyshire will continue to be free at the point of use to all NHS patients.

Discussions are now taking place between NHS Derby and Derbyshire and the four current providers – who include Vita Health Group – to ensure a high standard of service is maintained up to July and afterwards.

If you are receiving care, or if you are waiting to receive care, providers will give the same high standard of care as previously.

The healthcare professionals who you work with will do everything they can to support you during this transition.

People should continue to access Talking Therapy services in the same way as before.

Should any current or prospective patients have any queries about the Talking Therapies service, they can contact the ICB via ddicb.enquiries@nhs.net, or 01332 981601.

If you or your loved one are experiencing distress or anxiety, or feeling that you cannot cope, there are a range of support services in Derby and Derbyshire that can help you – including safe havens in Derby and Chesterfield and crisis drop-in services in Buxton, Ripley and Swadlincote.

For support over the phone, dial 111 and select the ‘mental health’ option to be put through to Derbyshire Mental Health Helpline and Support Service.

This is a freephone service available to everyone living in Derbyshire – young people and adults – and it is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The SignVideo app also allows deaf or hard of hearing people to make BSL interpreted videos calls via their electronic device.