Webinar: Implementing digital mental health pathways as part of an Integrated Care System (ICS)

National Health Executive in partnership with SilverCloud by Amwell have delivered a webinar offering health care professionals knowledge on the benefits of implementing digital mental health pathways as part of an Integrated Care System.

Mental health services were already stretched before the pandemic. But now the crisis in care has intensified – the pressures on mental health services and the people who deliver them are unprecedented and unsustainable.

While demand for treatment increases, mental health services are struggling to recruit and retain qualified staff. The inevitable outcome of this imbalance between supply and demand is longer waiting times for patients. In some cases, even high-risk patients are waiting not just months, but years, to receive treatment.

But it’s not just about money. These funds are badly needed to start to address the challenges facing mental health services, but change won’t happen overnight. It would be unrealistic to assume that there will be a meaningful reduction in waiting lists in the short term.

Well established as a standalone intervention within the NHS, via the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Programme, digital mental health solutions are already being used to address capacity issues within mental health services. The use of internet based cognitive behavioral therapy programs (iCBT) allows services to treat more patients, without any loss of efficacy, for mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

#NHS #healthcare #webinar #DigitalMentalHealthPathways