Somerset Mental Health project powered by Black Pear’s Core Care Plan software wins NHS improvement award
Care plan systems developed by specialist healthcare developer Black Pear Software has helped an innovative mental health project win a top NHS Improvement award for transforming how patients are looked after.
Open Mental Health Somerset was recognised for creating a “no wrong door” approach that uses Black Pear’s Core Care Plans to enable anyone to get the right treatment no matter which service they contact.
The project enabled the 17 different types of charitable, voluntary, and medical organisations involved in patient care, from adult and child social care to Citizens Advice and Age UK, to work off the same live care plan, share real-time information across the healthcare landscape and write outcomes straight back into the patient’s record.
The award reflected the project’s ability to share information across the third sector, which Black Pear’s Core Care Plans software enables by allowing data to be shared with any apps or third-party systems.
Open Mental Health Somerset has been working on its project since 2020 and already has more people accessing support than ever before.
Patients can access a whole range of initiatives from 24/7 crisis telephone lines to debt and employment advice, volunteering opportunities and community activities to tackle depression.
Beccy Wardle, Head of NHS Collaboration at Rethink Mental Illness, said:
We hope this collaboration provides inspiration and a blueprint for what can be achieved in other areas across the country.
When someone presents at the GP with mental health problems, their doctor can create a relevant referral form populated directly from the patient record in just 60 seconds.
This is digitally sent to the mental health services where a treatment plan is discussed and a DIALOG+ form created which can then be shared with the 17 services.
Organisations can write back into the patient’s GP record and notify relevant people of updates at any point.
David Jehring, chief executive officer at Black Pear Software, adds:
Core Care Plans also ensures that all health and care professionals get their patients’ up to date information as it has live read and write back for all users.
It means every relevant caregiver can create or change a plan, from community nurses to those in the voluntary sector. When something updates the care team is notified.