Recommendation  

Recommendation met? 

(0 = not in place,  

 1 = partially met/ plans to implement,  

2 = met/ in place) 

Service planning – having a written strategy in place helps to inform service planning and development, commissioning, and understanding of patient outcomes

The responsible CPPO is leading on the expansion of PT-SMHP and associated governance

There is a named board-level sponsor for PT-SMHP who regularly reports on the expansion and growth of PT-SMHP

The service has been planned in a way that aligns with both NICE and UCL competence frameworks, to ensure that individuals have access to full, evidence-based therapies

Local need has been assessed in the development of the strategy to help reduce geographical and health inequalities 

The service is linked with primary care and NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression, and they are aware of the full therapeutic offer available to individuals  

This local strategy is aligned with the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, setting out plans on how to grow the psychological professions workforce including expansion of key roles

NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression local leads have been consulted when developing this strategy to ensure that it prevents people falling through gap

Delivery of care – access to psychological therapy should be a key part of an individual’s treatment plan

CPPOs should understand the current baseline level of access to evidence based psychological therapies for people experiencing psychosis, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and complex needs/’personality disorder’ within services, and establish a series of incremental local access targets for each service user group and therapy

Therapy options are discussed with both the individual and the multidisciplinary team

All psychological therapies are offered according to NICE principles

Principles for advancing equalities are embedded within therapy provision and the service actively assesses inequalities that currently exist in accessing care

Therapy is trauma-informed, helping people to understand the impact of adversity they may have experienced and acknowledges and minimises the risk of re-traumatisation and iatrogenic harm

Workforce – expand and increase the competency of the psychological workforce

CPPOs and team leaders have reviewed the modelling by skill mix ratios (Appendix A in the Implementation guidance) and developed a recruitment plan to increase the psychological workforce 

Additional psychological professionals have been recruited with the required specific psychological therapy competences and accreditation 

New staff have been recruited into teams, which has allowed suitably qualified staff the time to train as psychological therapists

Suitably qualified staff have been recruited into training posts where they can train ‘on-the-job’ as future psychological therapists 

All new staff are trained on therapy training programmes that follow a recognised national curriculum

Team leaders work closely with the CPPO to identify which staff should be released from service to access the national training programmes

New and existing therapists can demonstrate that they have the Roth and Pilling competencies

CPPOs and team leaders have reviewed the modelling by skill mix ratios (Appendix A in the Implementation guidance) and developed a recruitment plan to increase the psychological workforce

All psychological therapy is delivered by staff employed at a Band 7 or above who are appropriately qualified and accredited (when applicable)

Training – teams are expanding their knowledge and skills by taking advantage of the comprehensive national training offer

CPPOs send regular communications to team leads and staff so they are aware of the national training offer  

Additional training is also commissioned locally in line with national competence and curricula requirements

All staff who are released for training and their managers are aware of the time commitments needed to complete it and have regular check-ins with team leaders while on training

All staff who access a national training course are given a minimum of 2 days a week of protected time to deliver the therapy or intervention upon successful completion of their training

CPPOs and team leads meet regularly with their regional workforce and training lead to outline any issues in accessing the national training offer and to understand the scope for additional places 

Supervision – ongoing clinical supervision is provided to all psychological professionals for each intervention

Psychological professionals with the required psychological therapy competencies are encouraged to train as supervisors  

Experienced teams provide supervision to those with less supervision provision

Stakeholders are aware that high quality clinical supervision improves treatment adherence and clinical effectiveness 

Supervision is always provided by a competent clinical professional who is currently delivering the intervention themselves

Supervisors are following the specific requirement for delivering supervision for each psychological therapy  

There are local governance systems in place to monitor access to the required levels of clinical supervision for all psychological therapists

CPPOs work with workforce training and education regional leads as well as regional programme leads to ensure they are receiving access to supervisor funding   

Staff are released from service to access the national supervisor training offer to help build the pool of specialist supervision

 Data and outcomes – there is a focus on improving data quality and implementing outcome measures as part of routine practice

Delivery of therapy sessions are accurately recorded to help improve patient care

Data is routinely evaluated to ensure accurate recording against the national access metric for psychological therapies

At all therapy sessions, nationally recommended PROMs for adult and older adult community mental health services are routinely administered and outcome data are collected and shared with the service user

Individual, service, and demographic level outcomes are reviewed (stratified by protected characteristics) and identified inequalities and poor outcomes are identified and acted upon

CPPOs and team leads regularly communicate the importance of accurate data recording and outcomes to team members, so they are aligned with the new national access metric and are prepared for the introduction of the four-week waiting time standard, in which receipt of therapy will stop the clock

Reducing health inequalities – provide an equitable service

Therapy delivery is adapted according to the individual’s needs, including for older adults 

Therapy can be delivered in a range of ways including digital delivery  

Therapy is still accessible for people who are non-verbal or do not use English, including offering interpreters or British Sign Language.   

Any supporting materials or documents are offered in multiple languages or available in different formats (braille and large print)

The service is aligned to PCREF and all staff align to its principles when delivering therapy 

Ensure that therapy treatment pathways are co-produced with people from a wide range of backgrounds 

Therapy is adapted for people with co-occurring conditions – consider environmental changes and delivery changes, for example, using picture cards and different non-verbal activities

Ensure to recruit therapists from different backgrounds and identities, so individuals can receive therapy from someone with similar lived experience to them

Creating a sustainable pipeline of therapists – to improve access to therapy the workforce needs to grow making use of new roles

Mental health and wellbeing practitioners have been recruited to help provide capacity within teams for staff with appropriate competencies to deliver therapy

New therapist posts have been established to take advantage of the national recruit to train offer to train more CBT and DBT therapists