NHS Gloucestershire ICB: Lowering barriers to mental health support

HSJ Healthtech Partnership Award: highly commended

Mental health services have long been under pressure - and demand surged further following the pandemic. NHS Gloucestershire, funded by NHSX, asked us to help rethink how support could be made more accessible and responsive, especially for young people stuck on waiting lists.

There were initial ideas around ways a dashboard could be used to communicate, share waiting times and manage people’s expectations. However, this evolved into a new product to help more people get the right support at the right time.
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A human-centred approach

We led a series of research and co-creation activities with children, young people, NHS staff and partner organisations to uncover needs, pain-points, gaps and opportunities. Areas we explored included:

• How can we support young people earlier - before things reach crisis point?
• How do we guide them to the right help - whether that’s mental health services or social prescribing?
• How can we give them more choice and control - not just something done to them?
• What could meaningful support during the wait actually look like?

We prototyped and tested end-to-end user journeys, interfaces and content. Every element, from tone of voice to question format, was tested and refined with real users.
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What we learnt

• A strong evidence base already existed - we used it to focus on the gaps.
• Recruitment was tough, as expected - but offering WhatsApp interviews unlocked valuable input.
• Once involved, young people were open and honest. Many began their help-seeking journey by talking to an adult - not searching online.
• Multiple choice formats outperformed open-ended questions - making it easier for young people to express themselves.
• The original dashboard idea wasn’t enough. What people needed was a support finder - something fast, accessible and designed around their needs.
• SMS access was a game-changer for inclusion - reaching young people who wouldn’t use a web app.
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Results

On Your Mind Glos brings together over 100 mental health services in one simple tool, giving young people real choice and control over their care. Designed with young people, not just for them, it improves access, boosts confidence, and removes barriers to support.

 Practitioners use it to give trusted, timely advice. By treating digital as an enabler - not the solution - we combined insight, design and delivery to create change that sticks. 

This system-wide, user-led approach reached over 10,000 young people in its first year, showing how inclusive design and joined-up thinking can unlock smarter, more sustainable support.

Client feedback

“We wanted to build on our existing feedback from children and young people in Gloucestershire to understand how we could better utilise digital technology to enable quick and easy access to mental health support. Young people repeatedly told us that they were unaware of the services available to them and we quickly realised we needed a single source of truth. 

“Healthia’s rigorous research and user centred design process helped us answer these questions and identified where to invest to have impact. The service they designed is simple and effective. Their approach to collaborating with the NHS and great team working has been a really valuable experience for us. They are flexible, open to questions and encourage feedback.”

- Beth Gibbons, Programme Manager NHS Gloucestershire