Kooth’s new pathway relieves NHS pressures by offering immediate support to young people on waiting lists

NHS data shows that in 2023 more young people were referred to CAMHS crisis teams than ever before. Additionally, 120,000 children waited six months or longer for treatment between 2022 and 2023. 

To alleviate increasing pressure on services and on the whole system, Kooth has developed two ‘Integrated Digital Pathways’ (IDPs), giving young people vital and immediate support. The ‘My Support’ and ‘Help to Cope’ IDPs allow NHS mental health teams to refer out to Kooth’s digital services to support young people on waiting lists for early intervention and stepped-down support. 

The ‘My Support’ IDP pilot was launched in June 2023, co-designed with Suffolk CAMHS. It was developed to support Early Intervention (EI) CAMHS by providing immediate online structured support for children and young people (CYP) aged 11-25 on Kooth. Suffolk EI CAMHS practitioners can now refer young people on their internal waiting lists who have lower levels of acuity (ie. low-risk anxiety and depression) to the Kooth IDP.

The ‘My Support’ pilot in Suffolk:

• Offers three main forms of support: ‘Keeping Well Support’ which incorporates a BACP-accredited messaging service and self-directed tools, ‘Structured Chat Intervention’ which offers up to eight weekly chat sessions with a named practitioner, and ‘Safe Crisis Management’ for collaborative risk escalation and management. 
• Uses several outcome measures to monitor, support and evaluate intervention, including the Revised Children’s Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and goal based outcomes (GBO). 

Outcomes of the ‘My Support’ pilot: 

• 95% of young people referred were eligible for the digital pathway.
• 100% said they would recommend Kooth to a friend.
• All young people who completed the intervention engaged with goals; 75% of goals achieved meaningful change. 

From data up to and including 4th April 2024

The ‘Help to Cope’ IDP was an eight-month pilot launched in July 2023, developed in partnership with Lincolnshire’s CAMHS Crisis and Enhanced Treatment Team (CCETT), Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust, and Lincolnshire County Council. It was created to decrease waiting lists and barriers for discharge at CAMHS and CCETT,  allowing team members to refer out to Kooth as a digital alternative with immediate access to BACP-accredited support. 

Outcomes of the ‘Help to Cope’ pilot: 

• 78% of accepted referrals engaged with the Kooth platform through the ‘Help to Cope’ pathway. 
• The service saw 687 logins over the eight months. 
• 100% of CYP indicated that they felt the practitioner helping them was a good fit, and 83% stated that the session felt right for them at the time. 
• 100% of young people felt ‘heard, respected, and understood’.
• 32 goals were set by young people; all saw meaningful positive change.

Final insights from IDP pilots: 

• Both pilots demonstrate Kooth’s ability to co-design and integrate successful intervention pathways with NHS mental health services. 
• The service supported CYP with diverse presenting issues, including stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as neurodiversity and emotionally based school avoidance 
• Data gathered shows that the autonomy and flexibility Kooth offers were significant in allowing CYP to engage with support when they needed it, and without delay. The ‘Help to Cope’ pilot revealed that 82% of successful chats occurred outside office hours; the ‘My Support’ pilot showed that CYP logged in twice as often outside traditional office hours. 

Kooth aims to expand these pilot programmes, providing flexible, immediate help for CYP while reducing waiting times and pressures across healthcare systems. 

To explore these initiatives in full detail, please download the PDF reports below.

Kooth is a digital mental health service with over 20 years of experience partnering with the NHS and local authorities. To learn how our Integrated Digital Pathways could help address growing waiting lists in your area, email our team at commercial@kooth.com.