after yesterdays agm statement the share price has risen 50% how much upside is left or is this another false dawn?
http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/thewellnessshop.co.uk
womans hour link below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2008_08_mon.shtml

offer here just jumped from 1.05 to 1.12 (evolution securities adjusted their position to 1.13 from 1.05 sell) ...... something about to happen? jondoug - have you any new news?

EDIT - as I posted sell adjusted to 1.13 (without any trades going thru) ........... Hmmm

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a781239017~db=all~jumptype=rss
Pragmatic evaluation of the viability of CCBT self-help for depression in higher education
Authors: Nicky Mitchell a; Kate Dunn a

Affiliation:
a University of Portsmouth, UK
DOI: 10.1080/14733140701565987
Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year
Published in: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, Volume 7, Issue 3 September 2007 , pages 144 - 150
Subjects: Counseling; Psychotherapy;
Formats available: HTML (English) : PDF (English)
Purchase Article: 14.00 plus VAT - buy now add to cart [ show other buying options ]
Abstract
This study explores the potential of a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) self-help programme for depression within the context of a Higher Education Counselling Service. It seems timely to consider the place of evidence-based alternatives to the face-to-face counselling traditionally provided in higher education with user choice in mind. There is also a need to cater for increasing numbers of students experiencing a wide range and severity of emotional difficulties, sometimes resulting in long waiting periods for help. In the study twelve depressed students used the CCBT programme 'Beating the Blues'. Ten (83.3%) participants completed the programme. Initial credibility of and expectancy-for-improvement from the intervention was high. Significant reductions in depression scores were found following completion, whilst anxiety scores changes were not significant. Feedback on the programme was largely positive. CCBT was clearly preferred to face-to-face counselling by some participants, supporting the need for a choice of interventions for students. These results suggest that CCBT may be an acceptable and effective intervention for a number of depressed students. It is argued that CCBT may be a viable addition to current provision in Higher Education Counselling Services and that further studies are required to investigate this further.

Keywords: Self-help; CCBT; depression; stepped-care; higher education

view references (30)

http://www.hi-mag.com/healthinsurance/homepage.do
http://www.hi-mag.com/healthinsurance/article.do?articleid=20000099721
Canada Life adds 'Beating the Blues' service

August 2007Breaking News

Canada Life Group Insurance has added a computerised cognitive behavioural therapy service to its employee assistance programme (EAP) for sufferers of depression and anxiety.

The service - called Beating the Blues - is provided by EAP supplier ICAS and will be available to new and existing customers as an extension of Canada Life's group income protection scheme.

It involves eight self-help treatment sessions designed for use by people with no previous computer experience and aims to teach people life-long skills that can be used to prevent a recurrence of symptoms of depression in the future.

Marion Ware, head of marketing at Canada Life Group Risk, said: "Depression and anxiety-related illness costs companies large amounts of money each year in lost productivity, so a [National Institute for Clinical Excellence] NICE recommended treatment such as this will be beneficial to not only the employee but the employer as well. It is therefore important for intermediaries to remind their clients that this service is available."

http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?VersionID=96283&MenuKey=News.Home
Canada Life offers push-button blues beater
Published: 14:14 Thursday 13 September 2007

By: Michelle McGagh, News Reporter

Canada Life is offering computerised treatment to group income protection policyholders who are affected by anxiety and depression.

The programme is based on cognitive behavioural therapy, an approach that encourages patients to change the way they think and focuses on immediate problems rather than causes of the symptoms from the past.

Called Beating the Blues, it is available as part of the employee assistance programme and has been created by ICAS, an independent employee support supplier. It will be available to all customers who present symptoms relating to depression and respond to online therapy.

The treatment is set out in eight self-help sessions that tackle the problems that the person is having at work and give suggest practical tips to help them overcome the feelings they are having. The sessions are supported by a telephone counselling service, where they have access to 50 counsellors, and also a 24-hour helpline.

Dawn Mellor, manager of the ICAS telephone counselling centres, said: Beating the Blues is beneficial to those employees that are having problems in or out of the work place and have mild to moderate depression or anxiety issues. We help them work through those issues practically so they do not return. As the sessions are completed at a computer it is also beneficial for those who are not physically mobile or may be off work for this reason.

http://www.city.ac.uk/news/archive/2007/09_september/18012007_1.html
Extended use of computerised therapy could increase NHS capacity by 25 per cent
City University London researchers have found that computer-aided therapy at mental health treatment centres can cut NHS waiting times.

Researchers from the School of Social Sciences at City University London have conducted research into the use of computer-aided therapy at mental health treatment centres and found that it can cut NHS waiting times for anxiety and depression treatment by as much as 25 per cent.



The research team assessed the impact of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) in an NHS cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) specialist centre using Beating the Blues (BtB) - the interactive multimedia CBT programme recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (2006) as an important treatment choice for mild to moderate levels of depression in primary care.



Working with the NHSs Chelmsford and Essex Centre, the researchers collected data for 60 months, assessing 555 service users waiting for treatment between May 2001 and April 2006.

After completing all eight sessions of Beating the Blues:



64 per cent of service users were successfully discharged
18 per cent were referred on for face-to-face CBT
1.5 per cent went for group therapy
1.8 per cent were referred on to Community Mental Health Services (CMHT).



Of the 18 per cent referred on for face-to-face treatment, the average number of sessions required before service users were successfully discharged was 3.7; reducing the total number of combined computerised and face-to-face sessions to 11.7 from the standard 15 face-to-face sessions.



Between 2000 and 2006 the Chelmsford and Essex CBT specialist centre saw a 50% increase in referrals. By using the BtB as an integral part of the specialist service treatment pathway, the service managed to maintain waiting times despite this increase; increasing the capacity of the Centre by the equivalent of 1.1 of a CBT nurse.



Lead researcher on the project, Despina Learmonth of City University London, says:

This research provides compelling evidence that the extension of a computerised therapeutic intervention, such as Beating the Blues, could be of significant value to service users in secondary/tertiary mental health centres, alleviating current burdens on public health and therapeutic resources. The Beating the Blues programmes should never replace the mental health practitioner, however, in the case of common mental health problems it can offer rapid access and clinically significant benefit as a supported self-help intervention.



According to the Psychiatric Morbidity Survey Report (2000) there are some six million people suffering from depression or anxiety disorders, or both. That is almost one in six of the UK adult population. At the same time a shortage of trained therapists has led to waiting lists for treatment stretching to over nine months long; in some areas there are simply no therapists available at all.

Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy dramatically reduces the need for human therapists with interactive computer packages that enable service users to self administer CBT with minimal therapist support. This method of treatment is currently only recommended for use in primary care practices.

Date of Article:18/09/2007

Any reason for today's jump ?
Is it going to continue ? !!

i think it is down to the results soon. results will be key if the rise will continue.

nice rise following on from yesterdays

prob just on the back of gov't throwing ever more money at NHS, primarily to the ultimate benefit of the admin arseholes rather than to the sharp end where it could be used much much better ...... unless something of sound significance is seen very soon, it is almost inevitable that sp will follow its usual pattern

cynic looks like you was right.
Ultrasis PLC
10 October 2007



Press release 10th October 2007



Ultrasis plc

Statement re Health Secretary's announcement


Ultrasis plc ('Ultrasis' or the 'Company'), the provider of computer-delivered,
interactive healthcare products and associated services, welcomes the Secretary
of State's announcement of the 170 million expansion of psychological therapies
and commitment to implement National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence
(NICE) guidelines for the treatment of depression and anxiety.

Ultrasis has been working with the Department of Health and Primary Care Trusts
(PCTs) since February 2006 to see its flagship therapy 'Beating the Blues' made
available to all patients across England and Wales. We are delighted that the
Secretary of State has now committed the funds to ensure this is implemented and
we now expect the NHS to honour its legal obligations and make Beating the Blues
available to all patients who require it.


- ends -

That would be good news then......but why are no figures attached?

yup .... good rns .... could or arguably should start making ULT into a proper company rather than one whose sp moves at whim depending on the current rumour

early 2006 this hit 3.4p on the announcement of the NICE recommendation (I think).
Wonder what it may hit now?

at least there is a bit more on which to hang your hat

this may help with figures............

Latest news provided by the Government News Network.
Please use the search to locate specific information.
back to list


Wednesday 10 October 2007 12:51
Department of Health (National)

Johnson announces 170 million boost to mental health therapies


Health Secretary Alan Johnson today announced a substantial 170 million expansion of psychological therapies to provide better support for people with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Millions of people suffer from depression and anxiety. These are the most common of the mental health problems, which account for 40% of the numbers on Incapacity Benefit. Treating them is estimated to take up about a third of GPs' time.

Psychological therapies have proved to be as effective as drugs in tackling these common mental health problems and are often more effective in the longer term. NICE guidelines on treatment for depression and anxiety recommend therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Building on two demonstration projects, the Government will next year roll out psychological therapies to twenty new areas before increasing services to cover the whole country over the next few years.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:

"More than one in six people suffer from mental health problems at any one time. For many people prescribing medication is a successful treatment but we know that psychological therapies work equally well.

"Today's announcement shows the government's commitment to mental health. Improving access to psychological therapies will give people with mental health problems a real choice of treatment, helping to reduce dependence on medication."

By 2010/11, the NHS will spend 170m per year on psychological therapies, with more than 30m in 2008/09 and more than 100m in 2009/10. Over the next three years, this investment in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) will mean:

- 900,000 more people treated for depression and anxiety

- 450,000 of them are likely to be completely cured (as expected with NICE guidelines)

- 25,000 fewer people with mental health problems on sick pay and benefits

- 3,600 more newly trained psychological therapists giving evidence-based treatment

- all GP practices having access to psychological therapies as the programme rolls out

- average waiting for psychological treatments down from the current 18 months to a few weeks (in line with urgent outpatient waiting times in the rest of the NHS) as the service rolls out

Lord Richard Layard, co-author of the London School of Economics Depression Report said:

'This is great news and just what we've all been waiting for. Mental health is the biggest social problem in our country. This new service will bring relief from misery to millions of people.

'I'm delighted the Government has committed to implement the NICE guidelines on treating depression and, importantly, is doing so in the first big announcement of the new spending review.'

Health Minister Ivan Lewis said:

"This major expansion of psychological therapies represents a historic transformation of mental health services in our country. These new services will ensure people have the support to cope with anxiety and depression while minimising the stigma associated with using mental health services."

Notes for Editors:

1. Mental health problems are the largest single cause of disability and illness in England - accounting for

- 40% of all disability (physical and mental)

- nearly 40% of people on Incapacity Benefit (and a secondary factor for 10% more of them)

- a third of all GPs' time

2. About 1 in 6 UK adults has a common mental health condition (i.e. depression or anxiety disorders) and an estimated 91m working days a year are lost to mental illness. The Government has set an aspiration to raise the number of working age adults in employment from 75-80% of the working age population, and has a target to reduce the number of people on Incapacity Benefit.

3. Huge numbers of people suffering from these conditions are not getting the treatment they need to bring them out of the misery these conditions involve. Those in treatment are only

- 1 in 4 of those diagnosed

- less than half of those in a 'depressive episode'

- taking drugs prescribed by their GP, although they would prefer the more-recently developed 'therapy'

4. Professor Lord Layard of the LSE puts the total economic loss, in sick leave, lost jobs and reduced output, due to depression and chronic anxiety at

- 12 billion a year - 1% of our national income

- 7 billion of this hits the taxpayer in incapacity benefits paid out and income tax not received

5. A review of the policies needed to improve mental health, with a particular focus on supporting people to gain employment and stay in employment was announced in the 2006 Budget. The review recommended that improving the way that people with a mental health condition are supported and treated, with a holistic approach engaging individuals, employers, and GPs, as well as Jobcentre Plus and the wider NHS.

6. GPs play a key role in supporting people with common mental health problems. Recognising this, Government will be working with the Royal College of GPs to ensure the curriculum reflects best practice.

7. The two national IAPT demonstration sites at Newham and Doncaster have achieved:

- Impressive recovery rates that replicate clinical trial and are in line with NICE guidelines (50-60% on most rigorous measures)

- Excellent recording of treatment outcomes for the first time in mental health (90%), leading to an opportunity for a nationwide system of routine outcomes monitoring and thus to more improvements

- Significant achievement in helping people off statutory sick pay and back to work/volunteering/education/training

- Treating large numbers of people in a short period of time from a standing start - more than 1,000 in Newham and more than 4,000 in Doncaster

- Meeting previously unidentified and unmet need by opening to self-referral - in Newham's community people came forward who were just as ill as those referred by GPs and whose conditions were twice as chronic (four years long rather than two). They responded as well as those referred by GPs.

[ENDS]

am happy to admit that, following the announcement on further gov't spending (assuming they do not renege!), i have changed stance and think this company is now worth a dabble and have bought accordingly (about 1.375) ...... for the record, the historic high is +/-3.4 and sp has now surged through all importnat dma's inc 200 - assuming these levels are held through today's close

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=487010&in_page_id=1774
Online therapy helps people beat depression more quickly
Last updated at 09:39am on 11th October 2007

Counselling by computer can cut NHS waiting times by a quarter. New research reveals that an hour a day of online therapy has a huge impact on depressed patients.

A study by London's The City University found that more than three in five people can stop treatment after eight sessions. This allows doctors to discharge patients more quickly and reduce the need for drugs.

Computer counselling uses cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help patients develop a more positive outlook on life.

Programmes such as Beat the Blues challenge negative thinking through a special psychological self-help course. With conventional therapy, patients have to be face-to-face with a psychiatrist or counsellor.

Online therapy allows those with mild mental health problems to manage their own treatment either at a referral centre or at home.

Doctors can already prescribe the treatment on the NHS. Trials have shown it is as effective as other clinical treatments and can produce faster results.

An estimated six million Britons suffer from depression and anxiety. Only 10 per cent have access to therapy and waiting times can be up to a year.

The Government yesterday unveiled a 170 million boost for mental health services, and Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has pledged to roll out psychological therapies in 20 new areas next year.

The City University findings are the most comprehensive evidence yet that psychological treatments are effective in combatting not just depression but also eating disorders, chronic fatigue and mild epilepsy.

The study was based on 555 patients waiting for treatment at an NHS therapy centre in Chelmsford, Essex.

Despina Learmonth, who carried out the study, said: "This research provides compelling evidence that computerised therapy could be of significant value to patients."

well done cynic not many admit on a b/b a change of stance,are you in for long term or trading?

am always happy to admit when i change my mind, just plain wrong, and sometimes when i get it spot on!

at heart i am a trader using CFDs exclusively and rarely hold for more than 3/6 months ...... with ULT, the price movement will almost certainly determine my actions - e.g. could trade some or even all of my holding very quickly if i feel it is all going too far too fast

cynic from rns quote "We are delighted that the
Secretary of State has now committed the funds to ensure this is implemented and
we now expect the NHS to honour its LEGAL OBLIGATION and make Beating the Blues available to all patients who require it".unquote. Unless RNS is wrong unlikely that NHS wil renege