NHS England has launched a new programme with an aim to resolve an “historic treatment gap in mental health provision in England” and take “advantage of the role digital can play”.
The programme aims to run investigatory pieces of work across priority pathways to help inform the development of support for local systems to improve data sharing and the use of health tech within pathways.
48 suppliers have applied to the tender process, including small and large organisations, to contribute to the invesitatory work over a four-month period, with up to £400,000 available in funding for successful applicants.
The tender notice states: “This work is in line with the ambitions in the NHS Long-Term Plan to support the development of digitally enabled pathways of care that used a range of digital tools, and supports the integration agenda for mental health providers to be connected with each other and the wider system partners.”
It notes that the work will aim to understand how data and information flows between care settings, organisations, and geographies, as well as aiming to identify tangible improvements in the collection, sharing and use of this information.
As well as understanding the tech, the programme will explore how it can improve care at a local level, and what support is needed for wider adoption. The tender states aims to “identify tangible opportunities for transformation to enable more effective data flows” and to then “inform the design and delivery of meaningful transformation across these pathways”.
The programme is set to start in December. To find out more, view the tender notice here.
