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

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2007/10/24/106231/therapy-by-computer.html
Therapy by computer

Posted: 24 October 2007

writes Mark Hunter


When the government announced earlier this year that computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) would be made available on the NHS, the move was broadly welcomed by mental health charities and service user groups. Several months later, however, there is increasing disquiet at the slow rate at which it is being taken up by primary care trusts and concern is growing that mental health service users are, once again, waiting on promises that will never be delivered.

For years mental health service users have been pressing for greater access to "talking therapies" such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Used with or instead of drug treatments, these therapies have achieved impressive results - about 50% of patients with depression, for instance, show improvements with CBT that are similar to those of patients treated with antidepressant drugs. Yet a course of CBT requires several face-to-face counselling sessions with a specially trained therapist. With these being somewhat thin on the ground in most cash-strapped PCTs, many patients have either ended up on lengthy waiting lists or been denied the treatment altogether.

However, last week the government announced it would be investing millions in talking therapies, allowing 900,000 more people to be treated by recruiting an extra 3,600 therapists.

But it will be a few years before the benefits of this investment are felt on the ground. In the meantime the development of computerised CBT has been viewed with great interest by mental health specialists, their patients and the government. It was hoped that the techniques of CBT - reducing patients' dysfunctional emotions by altering their behaviour and thinking patterns - could be integrated into an interactive computer programme, thereby offering the benefits of CBT without the need for a therapist.

Initially there was scepticism that this might simply be a way of fobbing patients off with a cut-price version of what is, after all, a highly specialised psychological technique. However, early results using cCBT show remarkable promise and a recent study by City University in London suggested that NHS waiting times for anxiety and depression treatment could be cut by as much as 25% if cCBT was more widely used.

Paul Corry, director of public affairs at mental health charity Rethink, believes that as long as suitable support remains available from mental health professionals, cCBT could play a valuable role in the treatment of mental illness.

"cCBT treatment can be better for some people than the alternative of no treatment," he says. "But it must not be delivered on the cheap. The package must include proper assessment by health professionals and include support with the offer of alternative treatment if cCBT proves ineffective."

Although Corry believes that "in an ideal world, those who need CBT would be able to access it from a trained therapist as and when they need it", he points out that in the real world this rarely happens.

"It can be hard to access, with waiting lists in some places lasting for years. And accessing the treatment in the first place isn't the only challenge. For some people, the time-limited course of sessions available on the NHS is too short and they may not be able to connect with the therapist assigned to them." For these people, cCBT could be a valuable alternative.

Last year the NationalInstitute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) conducted a major review of cCBT in the treatment of depression, anxiety, phobias and obsessive compulsive disorder. While not providing a blanket endorsement of cCBT in the disorders studied, it recommended the use of two particular programmes - Beating the Blues for people with mild and moderate depression and FearFighter for people with panic and phobia (see panel, below).

In March this year, the Departmentof Health's cCBT implementation guidance promised that the two programmes would be offered in every PCT in England. By the end of March each PCT was expected to have undertaken a local needs assessment, bought the software licences, ensured it had enough hardware, trained its staff and developed referral protocols.
Click Here

Patchy uptake

Uptake so far, however, has been patchy. Ultrasis, the manufacturer of Beating the Blues, estimates that 500,000 people have been denied the treatment since Nice's recommendations were published in February 2006.

"Unfortunately there's not been much evidence of [cCBT] being taken up by PCTs and that is very disappointing," says Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, who is at a loss to explain why PCTs are so reluctant to adopt a therapy that is much cheaper than long-term drug therapy or therapist-delivered CBT.

"It's hard to say why PCTs aren't taking it up," he says. "It shouldn't be for financial reasons as cCBT is not a hugely expensive therapy and far cheaper than using trained therapists. I think it's more that the idea of cCBT is not yet embedded in the thinking of PCTs. It may also be because there are only two products to choose from."

Indeed, McCulloch believes that the use of cCBT should be extended beyond the current Nice guidance and, in certain circumstances, may be more effective than therapist-delivered CBT.

"It does have certain advantages over face-to-face therapy," he says. "It's more private, you can take it at your own pace and for some people that seems to work better. I'd also like to see more products on the market. For instance there's good evidence that cCBT is useful in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder and phobias, so we do need a range of products."

With an estimated six million people in the UK suffering from depression or anxiety disorders, there is a clear demand for therapies such as cCBT. The government last year launched two demonstration sites in Doncaster and Newham dedicated to developing models on how evidence-based psychological services should be adopted. Now may be the ideal moment for the government to ensure that these models, once developed, are actually implemented.

WHAT IS cCBT?

Computerised cognitive behavioural therapy describes a number of approaches by which cognitive behavioural therapy is delivered through an interactive computer programme. The user may access the software through a CD-Rom, over the internet or by telephone. Staff can facilitate the sessions.

The Nice guidance recommends the use of two programmes:

? Beating the Blues, manufactured by Ultrasis, is aimed at people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety. The package comprises a 15-minute introductory video and eight one-hour interactive computer sessions, usually organised weekly. The package also includes homework projects that are completed between sessions and weekly progress reports are made available to the GP or another healthcare professional at the end of each session. The progress reports include anxiety and depression ratings and suicidal tendencies.

? FearFighter, made by ST Solutions, is a computer-based package for phobic, panic and anxiety disorders. The program, which is available online, is divided into nine steps with brief therapist contact and support provided by trained support workers through telephone calls, or e-mails at different intervals throughout treatment. Progress reports are available to the GP or other healthcare professionals and can be accessed at any time over the internet using a clinical outcome and patients' progress monitoring system.

For those in this and interested... this was posted on the iii site on Sun 15:12
Beating the Blues in multiple sclerosis by TYCVUUUUC

"The MS Society is funding a study on the treatment of depression in multiple sclerosis using Beating the Blues. The research will be conducted at the School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield).

Theres a video at the following link

http://www.mssociety.org.uk/research/research_we_fund/symptom_relief_research_initiative/cbt.html

This study aims to explore acceptability and appropriateness of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy for people with MS, as well as estimate its effect on depression and quality of life for people with MS.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) looks at the way people think and how they deal with problems. It can help overcome depression by focusing on specific, practical problem solving techniques and by helping people develop the coping skills necessary to deal with difficulties related to depression.

Around half of all people with MS experience major depression during the course of their lifetime and this is strongly associated with reduced quality of life. Studies have shown that talking therapies and CBT in particular, can be effective for treatment of depression and have been shown to be effective for people with MS. However, access to psychological services is very limited and varies with geography.

There is evidence to support the effectiveness of computerised CBT (CCBT) which shows that a particular CCBT product called Beating the Blues is more effective than usual care in treatment of depression and recent guidelines from NICE recommend the use of this in the management of mild and moderate depression. CCBT has the potential to be more easily accessed than therapist-led CBT and could therefore benefit more people. However current evidence is based only on use of CCBT by general populations and it is not known how effective or acceptable it is for people with physical disabilities or chronic degenerative conditions such as MS, nor has it been evaluated for use at home.

The study hopes to provide a well researched protocol for a controlled trial of the effectiveness of CCBT in treating depression in people with MS and develop a computerised CBT product in response to the views of people with MS which will specifically benefit them."

Ultrasis PLC
08 November 2007



8 November 2007

Ultrasis plc



BUPA contract



Ultrasis, the provider of computer-delivered, interactive healthcare products
and associated services, is pleased to announce that BUPA has contracted for an
initial 500 treatments of its flagship product Beating the Blues for use within
the BUPA Wellness Programme.



BUPA Wellness is offered to employees by thousands of companies in the UK and is
pioneering the approach of preventative health and wellbeing. Beating the Blues
will be offered as part of the range of psychological services offered to
employees.



Nigel Brabbins, Chief Executive of Ultrasis, said: 'With depression and other
common mental health problems in the workforce becoming an increasing issue we
are delighted to be working with BUPA Wellness to look at how Beating the Blues
can add value to their groundbreaking approach to wellbeing in the workplace.'

http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/news-and-comment/262377/bupa-breats-ultrasis-blues.thtml

08/11/2007
Depressed healthcare minnow Ultrasis has won a contract for its Beating the Blues depression treatment from private medical leader BUPA.

Nigel Brabbins, chief executive of the loss-making concern, says the contract is for 500 patients to be treated around the country under the BUPA Wellness Programme. 'If that works out, we'd expect to agree an annual contract with BUPA,' suggests Brabbins.

He claims that Beating the Blues, which is an eight-week web-based programme based on cognitive behavioural therapy, succeeds with 70 per cent of patients and could therefore save BUPA 'lots of money' on its company health care schemes if adopted across the board. Describing today's deal as a 'taster', he points out that Belfast-based Ultrasis has a National Health Service contract, too, and is talking to other private healthcare providers and backers, such as Canada Life.

Ultrasis, whose shares soared more than tenfold to 3.38p between 2004 and early 2006, can do with some good news. Losses rose 70 per cent to 769,000 in the year to July, though turnover increased 27 per cent to 1.6 million and the company ended its year debt free and with 879,000 cash.

The shares now stand at 1.03p, up 0.04p this morning. They represent a gamble on recovery.

From MoneyAM's Press Roundup:

According to today's Daily Express:
'Ultrasis close to announcing a deal with a leading US provider of medical support'

- Hope those who hold this will make some money on it. I've not had time to research this one.

i am so fingers crossed- have only been waiting for something to happen for the past 2 years..... (toya thx for info)

toya thanks for the info

The info was right Toya.




Ultrasis plc, the provider of computer-delivered, interactive healthcare
products and associated services, has reached an agreement with the developers
of YourCity.MD to promote 'The Wellness Shop' and its products across the top
300 cities in the United States, providing Ultrasis with direct access to
millions of potential customers. The Wellness Shop is Ultrasis's online retail
service, launched in November 2006, which provides quality healthcare products
and services that help people to be more active in managing their own health and
wellbeing.



YourCity.MD is the only online healthcare portal in the U.S. that reaches more
than 300 of the largest U.S. cities with city-specific domain names with the
intuitive .MD extension. YourCity.MD intends to become the most significant
healthcare portal in the U.S. by delivering local, intuitive, relevant and
physician recommended Web sites aimed at connecting both healthcare consumers
and providers. YourCity.MD has been developed by health practitioners and
entrepreneurs Joe Benza, Jr. and Dr. Michael Barber. 'The goal of YourCity.MD is
to improve the quality of healthcare for consumers by offering a healthcare
network combining national reach with a local platform,' said Mr Benza, CEO of
YourCity.MD.



Initially launched in Cincinnati, Ohio, this site receives more than 200,000
hits per month. Now the site is available in more than 300 cities - for a full
list of the cities go to:
http://www.yourcity.md/yourcity/allcities.aspx
.



YourCity.MD sites are free to both doctors and patients, with revenues generated
by advertising and premium services. YourCity.MD research shows that in the U.S.
alone, 116 million people used the Internet to find health information in 2006,
up from 41 million in 2001.




Commenting on the agreement, Nigel Brabbins, Chief Executive of Ultrasis, said '
Joe and Michael have created the perfect opportunity for patients and healthcare
professionals to share knowledge and information on a local level on how to
manage their own healthcare, and this is a perfect fit with the core business of
Ultrasis. We look forward to sharing YourCity.MD's success as they make the
concept more widely available across the United States. We are offering a
special introductory price for The Wellness Shop products for all YourCity.MD
customers which we will also make available within the UK. '





To read more about YourCity.md published in the Business Courier of Cincinnati
go to
http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/08/20/
story1.html



For further information please contact:



Ultrasis plc:
Nigel Brabbins, Chief Executive +44 (0) 20 7566 3900
nbrabbins@ultrasis.com

www.ultrasis.com

Oh good! Hope it has the desired effect on sp for you all.

News is good but unfortunately it does not warrant any sales-just potential sales. Having said that every bit helps

YourCity.MD LLC said the sites, localized to each city, will reach 98 percent of the health care market in the United States.

CEO Newsletter December 2007
I know some of you were expecting this newsletter to come out sometime in November but I just make the point to those who start at every shadow that this is not a formal communication with a firm deadline, but a way of expanding on current or recently announced initiatives and sharing with interested parties further and, hopefully, helpful background. The publication timescale is fairly fluid in that it will be quarterly, but often driven by unfolding events. In this instance I held back while concluding negotiations with YourCity.MD - It would have been perverse to issue the newsletter a week ago to meet an artificial deadline, only to then announce a new initiative a few days later, about which readers would be keen to have more detailed briefing!

YourCity.MD
You will have seen we issued an RNS announcement this morning to tell the market of this significant development in the United States. YourCity.MD has raised over $5m for the launch of this unique web portal to the top 300 cities across the US. The site will provide a locally rooted service for patients, physicians and practitioners, providing a "FaceBook" type area where both consumers and providers of health care related services and products can share information on treatments and services available for a wide variety of health care conditions. Each city will have its own domain and specific local content - for example, www.boston.MD, www.nyc.MD, www.sanfranciscobay.MD, www.Detroit.MD and so on. It is the goal of the founders that YourCity.MD will become the local site of first choice for health information in the USA.

The founders CEO Joe Benza Jr and Dr Michael Barber - extremely experienced in the healthcare sector - launched all 300 sites in November following a successful trial with www.cincinnatti.md, a site which already receives more than 200,000 hits per month. It is, however, still early days and there will be significant resources committed over the coming months to build on the successful launch. by delivering the intuitive."MD" brand across the US. MD is, for the uninitiated, the suffix associated with medical practitioners.

As well as the opportunity to partner with the developers of this exciting venture it will provide the Wellness Shop with a significant business opportunity. We have negotiated an initial 12 month exclusive agreement on each of the 300 sites. We developed the Wellness Shop concept in response to people wishing to take more responsibility for their own health and wellbeing and within the shopping mall - Mall@.md associated with YourCity.MD - there will be a 'self care' tab which will link visitors to www.thewellnessshop.co.uk for purchase of our products.

We anticipate as the popularity of the site grows that it will produce strong revenues for us. For example; To illustrate the scale of the opportunity, if we sold only two $39.95 products each month at each of the 300 YourCity.MD sites revenues would amount to $287,640 per annum.

I am sure that you can see the potential associated with this exclusivity and the obvious opportunity to promote our range of self help programmes direct to the consumer in the US. We also anticipate the sites will generate awareness of and interest in our products from corporate and health care providers across the US, as happened in the UK when we launched The Wellness Shop.

Full Year results 06/07
You will no doubt have seen the recent published results for the year ending 31st July 2007 and I would like to take the opportunity to reiterate some of the key highlights and their impact on the business:

We have deferred income of 1.388m, with 1.272m recognisable in FY 08, providing projected income flows to more than cover all our running costs and identified development needs for 2007/8. This, combined with the fact we are debt free puts the group in its strongest ever position, an important factor when carrying on commercial discussion with the likes of YourCity.md This was achieved by the sustained efforts of the Board who have demonstrated strong leadership and robust management throughout the period.

NHS
The Secretary of State announced in October an additional 170m for the provision of CCBT treatment over the next three years as part of the Prime Minister's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), which will then become 170 million per annum. We have been lobbying Alan Johnson MP and the Prime Minister since Patricia Hewitt's announcement in March 2007 seeking to ensure the Department of Health meets government's clear commitment to implement Beating the Blues across the NHS and we were delighted that the previous pressures on PCT budgets for this area of expenditure have now been lifted.

Progress on the ground is still frustratingly slow, but we fully expect more PCTs to commit to purchasing Beating the Blues as one of the 4 evidenced based therapies (CCBT, Bibliotherapy, Group and Face to Face therapy) named in the Public Service Agreement's to be used in their performance assessment.

There is, however, still a disconnect between statements by the Secretary of State about implementation of NICE guidelines and our experience of the desire to deliver further down the DoH chain of command. In a recent letter to Gerry Malone, our Chaiman, Mr. Johnson made it clear that "Primary Care Trusts are directed to fund treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisals", but acknowledged that uptake of cCBT was "slow". It is frustrating for us that patients who would benefit from BtB therapy today remain untreated. Raising the level of demand for cCBT at primary care level is, as I have said before, an important factor in speeding the decision making process.

Publications
The Lancet recently reported that World Health Organisation research has concluded that depression will be the 2nd greatest contributor to the global burden of disease by 2020. We believe that our approach to managing and treating psychological needs through computer delivered health care can provide a significant part of the solution to this global problem. The NICE recommendation of Beating the Blues has helped in attracting enquiries from a number of other countries across Europe, North America and Australasia seeking to assess the product for use in their own markets. Discussions in these areas do tend to be quite lengthy due to language and cultural issues involved, especially if translation is being considered.

We recently received further vindication of the success of Beating the Blues from researchers at City University, London who have shown that two thirds of people who complete the programme require no further treatment. A published analysis also demonstrates that Beating the Blues works equally well in treating depression with co-morbid physical illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, recurrent headaches and asthma. Beating the Blues is also now being trialled in a pilot research project, funded by the MS society and carried out by the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) - University of Sheffield, for treating depression in sufferers of multiple sclerosis.

Historical Sales performance
In light of the comments above, it is worth reflecting on UK invoiced sales performance from FY05 to FY07, in that even though the DH have not yet procured a National contract we have diligently grown UK sales by 258% from 699k in FY05 to 1803k in FY07 with contracts across both the public and private sector. We have also increased our renewal rate (repeat business) to over 97% - another indication of the tremendous success enjoyed by those customers that purchase and successfully implement Beating the Blues with their patients and a clear indicator of the high quality and durability of Ultrasis' future revenue flow

BUPA
We are, of course, delighted that the effort we have put in to secure this initial contract has resulted in BUPA purchasing Beating the Blues treatments for 500 participants. BUPA Wellness, One of the largest EAP providers in the UK is using Beating the Blues as an integral part of the psychological services offered to employees of the companies to which it provides wellness programmes. We are confident that they will enjoy the same excellent results as other users of BtB and commit to an annual contract for its continued use.

We are in discussions with other EAP and PMI healthcare providers and hope to report positively on these in the near future.

It is probably worth mentioning at this juncture that contracts such as those with PCT's, BUPA, ICAS and Turning Point all take considerable effort and involve many months of detailed negotiating and nurturing to come to fruition. There are no "quick fixes". There is no "low hanging fruit". I know we have the only NICE recommended computer delivered programme for depression but that does not of itself guarantee that these, or any other organisations will purchase it. Without the continued dedication, professionalism and determination of all our staff the company would not be in the robust position described.

Press coverage
Our efforts and those of Capital MS&L have resulted in a rising degree of press coverage over the past quarter, with many reporters picking up on the positive developments announced in our annual results, the implications of the Prime Minister's Comprehensive Spending Review and Alan Johnson's subsequent announcement of the 170m additional funding towards the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

We have had coverage in the Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Times, Guardian, Independent, FT, Daily Mail Online, The Scotsman, Growth Company Investor, Interactive Investor International, Forbes, Citywire, AFX to name but a few.

There are of course many interviews and activities completed that unfortunately do not always result in publication but we continue to promote the story and endeavour to get the message in to the public arena. The coverage we are receiving however is indicative of the serious nature with which Ultrasis is now being viewed.

Kind regards

Nigel Brabbins
Chief Executive

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2007-12-17b.174041.h&s=computerised+cbt#g174041.r0
Mental Health Services Monday, 17 December 2007

Anne Milton (Guildford, Conservative) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 29 October 2007, Official Report, column 1037W, on mental health services, what estimate he has made of the average cost to the NHS of a course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT); what representations he has received on the availability and future use of CBT in the last 12 months; and what discussions (a) he, (b) his Ministers and (c) his Departmental officials have had with those who have made such representations.




Ivan Lewis (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health) | Hansard source

While National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have calculated that the average cost of delivering a course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is 750, the cost calculation for delivering CBT and other evidence-based psychological therapies, used in implementing the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, is lower. This is because the IAPT model of care includes a range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches and delivery methods.

Over the last year a significant number of representations have been made about the availability and future use of CBT, and discussions have taken place with a wide range of interests which include third sector organisations, senior academics, providers of CBT training courses and other forms of therapy and the private sector, in particular manufacturers of computerised CBT products.

i am afraid ULT performs like EME and AMER (and even GOO, for my sins)

I too am confused by this. The company seems to be set for great things in 2008, perhaps the first sign of a profit even and yet the price continues to fall away. Could this still be the sign of an oversubscribed share or is it just doomed lol

on a rip-roaring day in the markets, what a bleak performance by this consistent under-achiever

cynic not sure it was a rip-roaring day in the overall market, stocks that rose amounted to just 12% of the market.
agree with the 2nd part

really? ...... must be because my portfolio is now heavily commodity orientated

Ultrasis PLC
03 January 2008


Press release 3 January 2008



Ultrasis plc

('Ultrasis' or 'the Company')



Ultrasis plc, the provider of computer-delivered, interactive healthcare
products and associated services, inform the market of the following:



(i): notification of major interests in shares

1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing Ultrasis plc
shares to which voting rights are attached(ii):
2. Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes)
An acquisition or disposal of voting rights X
An acquisition or disposal of financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of
shares already issued to which voting rights are attached
An event changing the breakdown of voting rights
Other (please specify):___________________________________________
3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation Barclays PLC
(iii):
4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.)(iv): Barclays Bank Trust Company Limited

Barclays Stockbrokers Limited

Gerrard Investment Management Limited
5. Date of the transaction (and date on which the threshold is 9 November 2007
crossed or reached if different)(v):
6. Date on which issuer notified: 12 November 2007 - see note 13
7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached: 8% to 7%
8. Notified details:




A: Voting rights attached to shares
Class/type of Situation previous to Resulting situation after the triggering transaction(vii)
shares the Triggering
transaction (vi)
if possible using Number of Number of Number of Number of voting % of voting rights
the ISIN CODE Shares Voting shares rights ix
Rights viii Direct Direct x Indirect xi Direct Indirect
GB0001494979 116,307,342 0 0.00 7.87
118,207,342 118,207,342 116,307,342


B: Financial Instruments
Resulting situation after the triggering transaction xii
Type of financial Expiration date Exercise/ Conversion Number of voting rights % of voting
instrument xiii Period/ Date xiv that may be acquired if rights
the instrument is
exercised/ converted.



Total (A+B)
Number of voting rights % of voting rights
116,307,342 7.87






9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively
held, if applicable xv:
Barclays Bank Trust Company Limited

Barclays Stockbrokers Limited

Gerrard Investment Management Limited


Proxy Voting:
10. Name of the proxy holder:
11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:
12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:


13. Additional information: The notification was only recently received at the registered
office as it was did not contain the full address and the post
code
14. Contact name: Geoff Smith
15. Contact telephone number: 020 7116 2913





--------------------------


Ultrasis plc:
Nigel Brabbins, Chief Executive

comments on ULT? ..... nothing printable! ...... another stinker like EME that threatens to come home with the bacon but ends up with just the sow's ear