Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board has awarded a 3-year contract to Kooth PLC for its digital mental healthcare service for children and young people in the region.
The £273,877 per annum contract for the digital service is set to continue the offer in the region, providing seven-day access for children and young people to professional online counsellors. The service also includes moderated forums, self-help materials and a mood journal, where young people can record their thoughts and feelings.
The company now sites over 1.3 million logins to its service each year, “creating a welcoming space for effective personalised digital mental health care”.
Kooth PLC has been awarded the contract by the ICB, for three years with the option to extend for a further two years. The platform has been used across the region since 2017.
HTN last reported on the company in June 2022, when it signed a deal with Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership to deliver its digital mental health support for all residents over 26. The platform for all ten localities of Manchester, was to deliver free, confidential and safe digital mental health services whenever needed.
In January 2022, Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership launched its online support programme using the Kooth platform, to support individuals across the area with their mental health.
Recently on HTN Let’s Talk, we spoke with Ayesha Rahim, clinical lead for digital mental health in the NHS England Transformation Directorate, to discuss some of the challenges that lie in digital mental health and how to tackle them.
