By james art 
Birmingham and Solihull ICB has proposed new plans for the region’s Child and Young People’s Mental Health Transformation Programme, outlining proposed changes to service delivery to improve access to mental health care and highlighting digital innovation as a ‘key enabler of change’ .
Through the plan, ICB identifies the need to “work better and smarter” to address health inequities, improve community outcomes and respond to technological developments. Digital solutions will be “key” to help by providing preventative and educational tools, the ICB adds, as well as online advice for service users, families and the workforce.
As part of this, digital tools must form part of a new model of mental health care, with Birmingham and Solihull confirming that this model will include the use of digital technology to streamline ways of working. Examples given include using online appointment booking, e-referrals and online self-help.
Birmingham and Solihull has pledged to continue working with staff to understand how the workforce wants to use digital opportunities to improve care, develop their skills and improve the systems they use. This will lead the ICB to “proactively focus on collaborative workforce programs to upskill the collective workforce,” the plan states, “instead of operating in silos.”
The proposals are open for feedback until November 22, with the ICB gathering comments and opinions to shape future revisions.
Mental health in the spotlight
As part of our recent feature series focused on digital mental health, HTN shared a report on the topic featuring key updates in the space over the past few months, exploring engagement challenges and consumer attitudes around digital mental health technologies and more. Click here to read.
Looking at other strategies, we examined NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s three-year plan to improve mental health services, which highlighted the role of data as a ‘key enabler’ to realign services so that the provision of hospital treatment better meets the needs of the population.
Other news in this space includes University College London partnering with YouTube Health to improve access and quality of mental health information on the site; The NHS 111 service is being expanded to include a 24/7 single point of access for mental health support; and NHS Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull Talking Therapies launch referral chatbot and mental health app.
Also from the region
With an eye on other news and insights from the wider region, over the summer we interviewed Martin Sadler, Executive Director of Information Technology and Digital at Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, to talk about some of the trust’s recent digital projects and priorities, including considerations about the opening of a new hospital and how AI is being used in radiology.
We examined Birmingham Community Healthcare’s annual plan, looking in particular at the key priority of becoming a “more digitally enabled and information-driven organisation”.
And we looked at Birmingham and Solihull ICS’s 10-year strategy here, focusing on the role of data in tackling inequalities, identifying opportunities for intervention and improving understanding of shared priority areas.
