Evaluating a new digital solution for secondary mental health care

Local secondary care mental health services in Bristol have recently been reconfigured and now consist of 14 care-provider partners, under the banner of Bristol Mental Health. A new digital care pathway tool has been developed by Otsuka Health Solutions, with Bristol Mental Health staff and service users, which aims to enable an empowered service user experience in the planning and review of their care. Following the pilot phase, it is intended that all Bristol Mental Health services will access the same tool.

A mental health risk profiling tool has also been developed using historical secondary care mental health data. The risk profiling tool will score each patient’s risk of mental health crisis, which will be used to support clinical decisions about people ready for a step-down in care or discharge, as well as identifying people who may be more vulnerable.

CLAHRC West will evaluate the acceptability of the new care pathway and risk profiling tools to the healthcare professionals who use it. We will evaluate the impact of the care pathway tool on the completion of care plans and the involvement of service users in their development. We will also look at the usefulness of the risk profiling tool to inform clinical decisions about step-down in care and discharge and identify service users requiring additional support.