In Cheshire and Merseyside, the mental health crisis has reached critical levels in recent years, with the growing demand for support services far surpassing the available resources. As more people than ever seek help, local health services are buckling under immense pressure, leading to longer wait times and a worsening of mental health conditions for many. The strain is palpable, leaving many in this region without the timely care they desperately need.
Recent NHS data paints a sobering picture of the escalating crisis, showing a dramatic rise in individuals across Cheshire and Merseyside seeking mental health support. The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified these challenges, intensifying anxiety, depression, and stress-related conditions. In this region, an estimated one in four adults is grappling with mental health concerns—a statistic that mirrors the national average, but with a more alarming upward trajectory in recent years.
A particularly urgent issue in Cheshire and Merseyside is the extended wait times for specialist mental health services. While the NHS standard recommends access to psychological therapies, such as talking therapies, within 28 days, the reality here is far bleaker. Many are left waiting several months before receiving help, during which time their conditions often deteriorate. This delay can have devastating consequences, increasing the risk of harmful behaviours such as self-harm and substance misuse.
The growing mental health crisis in Cheshire and Merseyside underscores the urgent need for expanded resources and immediate action to prevent further strain on individuals and the wider community.
ORCHA is on a mission to safeguard individuals by evaluating and endorsing mental health apps that meet the highest standards. In the sensitive realm of mental health, ORCHA’s goal is to protect users from potentially harmful or ineffective apps, ensuring they only access trusted, reliable digital solutions.
By curating a diverse range of mental health apps, ORCHA helps to make mental health support more accessible for people in Cheshire and Merseyside. From the comfort of their own homes, users can access vital mental health tools, breaking down barriers like long waiting times for therapy, geographical limitations, and the stigma often associated with seeking help. These apps cover everything from stress management to therapy support, providing immediate resources for those in need.
ORCHA collaborates closely with healthcare professionals across Cheshire and Merseyside, including social prescribers, general practitioners, and local mental health teams. This partnership allows professionals to recommend evidence-based mental health apps as part of their patients’ care plans. Integrating these digital tools into clinical settings enhances treatment outcomes, offering patients support between appointments or during long waiting periods.
From January to August 2024, over 1,000 mental health apps were recommended by healthcare professionals via the ORCHA platform in Cheshire and Merseyside—demonstrating the region’s growing reliance on digital tools to address mental health and well-being. These recommendations span various needs, from stress management and anxiety relief to mindfulness and community-based support, ensuring that individuals receive targeted assistance based on their specific challenges.
During this period, more than 400 mental health apps were downloaded through the system, underlining the critical role that digital support now plays in empowering people to manage their mental health. These figures highlight how integral apps have become in the mental health care pathway, providing timely, accessible support to those who may otherwise be struggling.
Dr. Tom Micklewright, a General Practitioner in Cheshire and Merseyside, shared his perspective: “When a patient comes to see me about their mental health, the options can often feel limited. Waiting times for talking therapies are long, and many patients are hesitant to begin medication. Mental health apps offer a powerful alternative—they’re in the patient’s pocket, ready whenever and wherever they’re needed. For many of my patients, apps have been the first step on their journey to recovery.”
At ORCHA, we’re proud to play a crucial role in this vital support network, ensuring that the people of Cheshire and Merseyside have access to safe, effective, and user-friendly mental health apps. Our rigorous review process guarantees that every recommended app meets high standards, giving users the confidence to embrace digital tools in their mental health journey.
Looking ahead, ORCHA is committed to enhancing the quality and accessibility of digital health solutions, recognizing their potential to reduce wait times and provide a valuable layer of care at all stages of mental health recovery. As we move forward, we’ll continue ensuring that the apps we recommend are not only safe but also tailored to the diverse mental health needs of the Cheshire and Merseyside community, helping even more people find the right digital tools to enhance their well-being
Sussex NHS Community Foundation Trust – A pioneering leader in healthcare who recognised the growing importance of solutions in enhancing patient care
Taking a bold, forward thinking move they have integrated the trusts professional-facing app library into their SystmOne portal.
“We know our patients are eager to use apps to enhance their health and wellbeing—whether they’re awaiting treatment, following a care pathway, or managing their recovery post-discharge. Since the NHS App Library was decommissioned in 2021, we’ve lacked a safe, reliable way to recommend effective self-management tools. The ORCHA formulary integration with SystmOne changes that entirely, providing a new level of professional accountability and audit that is critical for modern patient care,” says Antonia Brown, Chief Nursing Information Officer, SCFT.
The primary goal of this integration was to empower healthcare professionals at Sussex NHS Community Foundation Trust with a groundbreaking ability, to recommend trusted, clinically-validated health apps directly to patients via the SystmOne portal.
This innovative capability was envisioned to revolutionize the treatment process and improve patient outcomes, by providing seamless access to powerful digital tools that can dramatically improve how patients manage their health. The trust aims to elevate patient outcomes and boost engagement in self-care.
Integrating ORCHA’s formulary into the system wasn’t just about adding a new tool—it was a game-changing step toward reimagining how healthcare professionals and patients interact in the digital age. This strategic leap forward is set to transform daily workflows, embedding digital health solutions into patient care pathways with ease and efficiency.
The results? Better patient engagement, greater adherence to treatment plans, and significantly improved health outcomes. Through this bold initiative, Sussex NHS Community Foundation Trust is positioning itself as a trailblazer in digital health innovation within the NHS, setting a powerful standard for other healthcare providers to follow.
The integration kicked off with a series of collaborative meetings between the Trust’s Integration Lead and our Technical Architect at ORCHA. These sessions were laser-focused on identifying potential hurdles and ensuring the solution would meet every user need without compromising on data security or regulatory compliance.
The design phase was all about precision. A detailed blueprint was crafted to seamlessly embed ORCHA’s formulary into the SystmOne portal. The goal: to allow healthcare professionals instant access to search and recommend trusted health apps—all without ever leaving the portal. Every data flow diagram and integration point was meticulously mapped to guarantee smooth, secure data exchanges, backed by rock-solid user authentication.
Using agile methodologies, we entered the testing phase in full collaboration. The Trust took the lead, running both automated and user acceptance tests with clinicians. Meanwhile, we conducted rigorous security testing to ensure everything aligned with GDPR and other key regulations. This dynamic approach made for an integration that wasn’t just secure—it was robust, intuitive, and perfectly tailored for healthcare professionals.
Healthcare professionals can now empower their patients like never before by recommending personalized health apps directly during consultations, inspiring patients to take charge of their own health and well-being.
Thanks to the seamless integration, professionals no longer need to navigate away from the SystmOne portal, saving valuable time.
A streamlined, efficient process that frees up more time for patient care.
The feedback from healthcare professionals has been overwhelmingly positive. They appreciate the ease of access to trusted digital health solutions, which are now just a click away. “Having single sign-on via the patient’s electronic record (SystmOne) to directly recommend apps will be a game-changer for our clinicians. It eliminates the need to switch platforms, saving time and effort. Plus, all recommendations are stored in one place, allowing us to avoid duplication and making follow-ups much simpler,” says Mel Briers, Digital Nurse Specialist at SCFT.
Background
Holly Health, a digital health and wellbeing coaching tool, has been instrumental in supporting patients within primary care networks in changing behaviours and habits sustainably. By leveraging digital tools, Holly Health aims to reduce the burden on clinical teams and healthcare costs while empowering individuals to take charge of their health.
Challenge
Chronic conditions contribute significantly to NHS pressures, with many being preventable through lifestyle changes. Holly Health sought to address this challenge by providing affordable, personalised health and wellbeing support via an intuitive and engaging app.
Solution
Holly Health is a personalised, digital health coaching app, designed to support people to develop sustainable health behaviours, aiming to reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases.
Supporting their work, Holly Health partnered with ORCHA, a leading company specialising in assessing and validating digital health technologies, to ensure compliance and trust in their product. Through rigorous evaluation and validation processes, ORCHA helped Holly Health establish credibility and reliability, essential factors in the adoption of digital health solutions.
Outcome
Primary care networks utilising Holly Health’s digital coaching tool have witnessed remarkable results. Data analysis revealed a reduction in GP appointments among users, with significant improvements in health outcomes. Notably, patients with conditions like Type 2 diabetes and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease experienced fewer appointments per year, showcasing the effectiveness of the digital tool in managing chronic conditions.
Impact
Holly Health has facilitated the delivery of personalised support to over 35,000 individuals across more than 180 NHS primary care partnerships. In regions like the Scottish Ayrshire area, where the service was deployed, significant improvements in mental wellbeing and exercise levels were observed among users.
Testimonials
Alexia Pellowe, Clinical Director at NHS Ayrshire & Arran, emphasised the meaningful impact of Holly Health’s approach, stating, “It’s encouraging to see change start to happen as we make meaningful person-centred gains with patient outcomes along with demonstrating cost efficiencies.”
Steve Woodford, Non-Executive Director, NHS England, hailed Holly Health as an exemplar of innovation essential for empowering individuals to maintain well-being proactively.
Future Outlook
With a focus on prevention and early intervention, Holly Health aims to further alleviate long-term healthcare pressures through scalable digital solutions. By enabling individuals to manage their health effectively, Holly Health is poised to drive positive health outcomes and contribute to the sustainability of healthcare systems.
Situation
Since 2022, our work within Rochdale place has been primarily focused on direct to population activities supporting long term conditions, and mental health support across the primary care health system. The direct to population approaches have been delivered through a combination of E-comms via text batching from GP surgeries, and use of carefully curated ‘landing pages’ to target specific cohorts within Rochdale place.
Within the long-term condition focus, diabetes and diabetes prevention have been a specific target group for Rochdale place, given the prevalence of 8.8% within the local adult population against a national average of 7.3% (based on NHS Quality Outcome Framework 2021/22).
Solution
To cater to the needs of the population, we curated a collection of digital health apps designed to address various health and wellness requirements associated with diabetes. The apps underwent a thorough selection process with guidance from our clinical team, who pinpointed those most beneficial for empowering individuals to self-manage aspects of their condition.
After finalising the app selection, we generated text content with direct links to the chosen apps. Collaborating with Primary Care Networks throughout Rochdale, we subsequently distributed these texts directly to individuals identified as having diabetes.
Results
Over the period May 2023 to October 2023, utilising the text-batch campaign, we saw over 2,400 downloads achieved, equivalent to 400 apps per month. This equates to 11% of the targeted population. If this was extrapolated across a full-year effect (circa.4,800 Downloads), we would reach 23% of those adults identified in the prevalence data (circa 21,000 adults) who either have been diagnosed with diabetes or are at a pre-diabetic stage.
Of note, is the evidence-based impact and benefit of use of the range of Apps deployed during these campaigns for diabetic and pre-diabetic patients. Over a period of five months, the three most downloaded diabetes apps were identified. Among them, the Low Carb Programme, which has been proven to improve diabetes management. Studies have shown that the app helps reduce HBA1c levels to less than 6.5% across the research group. After using the Low Carb Programme for a year, the number of participants reporting an HBA1c level of less than 6.5% increased from 25.7% to 50.3%.
Links to Research
In research that ORCHA has previously conducted it was found that blood glucose levels amongst those with Type 2 Diabetes can be reduced by up to 1.1% when patients use digital health tools alongside their standard medication.
Patients with Type 1 Diabetes can reduce their blood sugar (HbA1c), on average, by 0.5%. In 21 out of the 25 trials, patients using digital health tools to supplement their care achieved better HbA1c results. In 20 out of the 25 trials, there were additional reported reductions in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and Body Mass Index. Amongst those with Type 2 Diabetes, the improvements in blood sugar levels were similar to the benefits patients receive when using Metformin, a commonly used medicine to lower blood sugar levels which is often the first line of treatment for the condition.
Although researchers expect a drop-out rate of 40% when patients trial digital tools, there were lower drop-out rates when the people with diabetes used them, at 20%. In the trials, the average duration of diabetes for those using digital health was 12.49 years and the average age was 52.
If you would like to read more information about this study, click the link: www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcdhc.2022.936752/full
If you would like to visit the campaign page or browse our library of health apps please visit: ourrochdale.orchahealth.com/en-GB