Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust has launched a digital support platform to help young people with anorexia nervosa and their families.
The TRIANGLE platform, developed by Mersey Care’s Children’s Eating Disorder Service (CEDS) in partnership with Professor Janet Treasure at King’s College London and Informatics Merseyside, was created with input from clinicians, young people and their families.
TRIANGLE offers a range of resources including tailored workbooks, videos, and weekly online forums to support with recovery. Dr Ashish Kumar, clinical director of Mersey Care’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health Service, said: “It’s exciting we have a new modern model of digital intervention which is going to help children and young people with anorexia nervosa and their carers.”
The platform is available in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Warrington, with service users encouraged to contact their care team for additional information.
Feedback has reportedly been that users of the platform feel more supported, less isolated, and more positive in their recovery. Karina Woodyer-Smith, Mersey Care’s deputy divisional director for Children Young People and Families, said: “It’s a real step forward in how we support our community, and I’m incredibly proud of the team for making it happen. We feel privileged to be a part of this development and to witness the positive impacts it has on our young people.”
Wider trend: tech supporting children and young people’s health
For a HTN Now webinar discussion on scaling health technologies we welcomed Clair Scaife, nurse/AHP clinical lead with the service improvement team at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust; Annmarie Grogan, clinical and palliative lead nurse with the children’s community nursing team at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust; and Riccardo Arduini, head of clinical effectiveness at Livi. Our panel shared their insights and experiences with scaling health technologies, with Clair and Annmarie taking us through their journey to date in the virtual wards space, and Riccardo offering his perspective as both a former paramedic and from his current role working to implement Livi’s solutions across the NHS.
An accelerator programme run by Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with UP Ventures and Par Equity has supported 12 tech start-ups address children’s health challenges such as asthma, diabetes, and ADHD. With the help of a £115,000 investment from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Sheffield City Council and Brabners Solicitors, the 12-week programme focused on developing and scaling child health technologies for the NHS and the global healthcare market.
Sheffield Children’s NHS FT has opened a market engagement exercise with the intention to explore the options available for supplying online mental health services for children. The trust is now welcoming input on the draft specification for an external, digital provider of children’s mental health services, with the aim to “better understand the current market landscape and identify potential providers”. Constructive feedback will also be used to shape the trust’s future procurement approach and refine the requirements.
