In UK, NHS pays for surfing lessons to aid those with mental health issues

From The Daily Mail in the UK:

Patients suffering from depression are being given free surfing lessons paid for by the NHS. The pilot project is offering one-to-one tutorials by professional surfers to young people who have been diagnosed with mental health issues.

Health chiefs hope the ‘therapy’ will help them build confidence while learning a new skill.

The patients aged between 12 and 25 were referred to the scheme by mental health charities and it is being paid for by the Cornwall Primary Care Trust.

They decided to spend £5,000 on the project after watching a similar surfing session run by the same company in Polzeath for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But critics say the activity is a waste of the NHS’s money and it would be better spent on medicine and staff during the economic downturn.

It comes as health trusts have been ordered to tighten their belts to make the NHS more efficient.

Conservative MP Philip Davies said: ‘This PCT seems to have far too much money if it can afford to provide jollies like this.

‘It’s ridiculous that at a time when some drugs are being restricted from patients because of the cost that this can go on. They are not accountable and do not need permission to hold these activities and just do it. That seems wrong.’

TaxPayer’s Alliance spokesman Fiona McEvoy said: ‘This is a highly questionable use of NHS funds at a time when doctors are having to deny cancer patients drugs.

‘It’s important that the NHS uses its funds for medicine and equipment rather than watersports.’

Depression and anxiety cost the national economy £17billion a year. Forty per cent of those claiming disability allowance do so as a result of mental illness. Joe McEvoy, who commissioned the service for the PCT, said: ‘I think it will offer excellent value.

‘It’s a long-established body of evidence which shows that when you organise therapeutic activities around particular tasks, people benefit not just from social interaction but also build confidence.

“That’s been one of the tenets of occupational therapy which has been an established therapeutic discipline in all sections of health care for many decades.’

‘The coast is one of our greatest assets and it makes sense to use it to improve the health and well-being of our patients.

‘There are many positive health benefits that flow from physical activity and people who are suffering from poor mental health can also gain from improved self-esteem and doing things which are enjoyable.’

A spokesman for Era Adventuresm which is providing the lessons, said: ‘This is a really exciting opportunity and a great way of using surfing in the community.’
Unruly pupils were given foot massages in the classroom as a therapy to calm them down paid for by the taxpayer.

Despite medical experts say there is little evidence that such treatment can improve the behaviour of young tearaways, Labour-run Lambeth Council in South London spent £90,000 sending reflexologists into its schools.

However Lambeth’s PCT does not provide reflexology sessions for the wider public.