MENTAL health chiefs were slammed by watchdog members today who said counselling services were axed without enough replacement services being put in place.

They also said NHS bosses did not inform people enough about the changes.

Councillor Mike Appleyard said the watchdog committee considered sending the move to the Government because they were ‘so annoyed’.

Buckinghamshire NHS Primary Care Trust axed counselling on April 1 amid a blaze of controversy, saying offers varied around the county and it was not effective.

But only cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was offered in its place – and the authority is now looking to provide two more treatments for common mental health problems.

Cllr Appleyard said: “We want to send a very clear message to the PCT that this is not good enough.”

He said the new service was a ‘significant improvement’ but the committee was not given enough information to reach a view ahead of the axe.

The committee is charged with scrutinising key NHS changes and can refer plans to the secretary of state for health for a final decision.

Cllr Appleyard said he had considered this and added: “It is not acceptable to the public or the patients.

“We will not accept this sort of process again.”

Committee member Cllr Paul Rogerson said: “My biggest concern is the risk taken to commission something and not have something in its place.”

This posed a risk to patient’s treatment, he said.

The PCT, now NHS Buckinghamshire, axed counselling as bosses said only 40 per cent of GP practices offered it with varied waiting times and ‘little evidence’ of its effectiveness.

They said people could self-refer to CBT therapy via its ‘Health Minds’ service.

But the Government recently said it must also offer couples behavioural therapy and interpersonal therapy, which looks at how the person relates to others.

Kurt Moxley, from the NHSB, acknowledged there should have been a ‘smoother transition’.

But he said the three therapies would see a ‘massive increase’ in therapy sessions from about 18,000 to 81,450 a year.

He said: “If you were lucky you were offered a counsellor in a GP surgery. If your GP hadn’t got a counsellor it was not an option. It was dependant on where you lived.”

People no longer have to ‘plead their case’ for therapy via GPs, he said. The new coalition Government backed the therapies, he said.

Yet Carolyn Smyth, chief executive of the county branch of charity Mind, told The Bucks Free Press that counselling was a valuable service.

She said: “We still think counselling has got a part to play in the range of psychological therapies.”

She said of the axe: “We have had calls people that have been referred to the Healthy Minds service but have not been eligible.”

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