Recently I did some work for a fascinating organisation, Ieso Digital Health , which provides online CBT to people with common mental illnesses like depression, anxiety, OCD and phobia. The company is an example of how private companies can add value to the health system. It is doing something genuinely innovative, and meeting a pressing human need. Without Ieso, waiting lists for talking therapies would only get longer. And what about people for whom face-to-face talking therapy is unsuitable - anyone who is immobile, in full time work or just shy? They would lose the chance to benefit from the discretion and accessibility of online therapy. If Ieso did not exist, you would have to invent it. I don't want a privatised NHS, but it's difficult to argue against providers like this entering the market. For more on Ieso Digital Health's approach to healing minds, read this article by their clinical lead, Sarah Bateup, on Huffington Post.
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