A new name for IAPT services has been chosen and approved: NHS Talking Therapies.
Dear all,
Thank you to all colleagues who took part in the online survey conducted late last year to consult on the new name options for IAPT. Following an in-depth analysis of the feedback received via the survey and via dedicated focus groups conducted by Ipsos Mori, the national NHS England and Health Education England mental health teams are delighted to announce that a new name for IAPT services has been chosen and approved: NHS Talking Therapies.
This name will be rolled out in all services across England in 2023, following NHS branding guidelines. It will be accompanied by the following tagline: for anxiety and depression. This rebranding exercise will be critical in raising the profile of the services and removing barriers to access.
More than 3,600 people completed the online survey, with 53.3% of participants saying that they preferred ‘NHS Talking Therapies for the new ‘brand’ name. The public facing focus groups providing similar feedback that supported this recommendation. From the survey responses, 79.2% of people who chose ‘NHS Talking Therapies’ gave the reason that it was more accessible to the general public and easy to understand. This has been the key aim of this rebranding exercise from the beginning.
We are now delighted to start the roll out phase this month (January 2023) which will continue over a twelve-month period in a phased way. The national team has co-developed (with services, regions and patient representatives) a full implementation plan with a phased timeline, an action plan, key messages and branding resources to support you and your teams throughout the transition to the new name in 2023.
An official announcement will be released publicly in the coming days, and resources made available to services via a dedicated FutureNHS platform. Regional mental health leads will be your key points of contact for this work and any queries you may have. We thank you for your support and encourage you to start using NHS Talking Therapies as the new name for IAPT as soon as possible.
Thank you.