Be Mindful, Wellmind Health's digital mindfulness-based cognitive therapy course, is being piloted across three Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in the south of England.
The pilot involves 12 practices in the south of England and has the potential to extend to a further eight PCNs covering more than 48,000 patients.
The initial stage of the pilot is being tried with practices under the Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), in partnership with Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN). Together they have commissioned the Be Mindful digital therapeutic as part of their strategy to offer instant digital support tools to patients struggling with mental health issues and help avoid long waiting lists for other services.
With the commissioning bodies' specific need for a clinical-grade course that is accessible, flexible and satisfies digital therapeutic regulatory compliance, Be Mindful was an ideal fit. The digital therapeutic is clinically proven and has been commissioned within the NHS for years. It was also recently independently certified by the world’s leading digital health evaluation organisation, ORCHA, as compliant with the new NHS Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) standard for digital health technologies to be used within the NHS and social care.
Another important requirement for the CCG of the selected digital therapeutic was that clinical data and outcomes will be accessible to clinicians throughout deployment. Be Mindful's secure course Management Portal, an integral part of the platform, enables clinicians to monitor patient progress along the course and measure outcomes using recognised clinical measures, with aggregated data also available to course facilitators and managers.
Wellmind Health CEO Richard Latham said: "We are delighted to be working with the CCG and Wessex AHSN on this important project. Clinically proven digital therapeutics are the ideal tools to help clinicians provide swift and effective support to those struggling with their mental health. Be Mindful is proven to significantly reduce levels of stress, depression and anxiety, and we look forward to helping more patients to improve their mental wellbeing."
Claire Parker, Head of Digital Primary Care Programmes & Services at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Integrated Care System said: "We're excited to be working with Wellmind Health using their Be Mindful product to support our work providing self-care and self-management options for our patients."
