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ChatHealth nurses crowned national winners in the 2020 Nursing Times Awards

by | 26th November 2020 | News

Livewell Southwest is joining celebrations for the recent Nursing Times Award win for the innovative text messaging service, ChatHealth, in the Nursing in Mental Health category.

ChatHealth was launched by Livewell Southwest’s Health Visiting and School Nursing service in July as a means for parents, carers and young people to reach trusted healthcare advice and support.

The social enterprise’s Children, Young People and Families Service works to provide children and young people with the best start in life – at home, at school and in the wider community.

Developed and supported by Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust in 2013, ChatHealth has been implemented by more than 50 NHS Trusts and healthcare organisations across the country for use across a variety of healthcare services.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Nursing Times Award, which this year took place in a free, virtual ceremony broadcast live online. The event was hosted by Nursing Times editor, Steve Ford and BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty who revealed the winners of 23 categories to celebrate the different specialities and settings in the nursing community.

Nursing Times editor Steve Ford said: “The annual Nursing Times Awards showcase the innovation and best practice of nurses and midwives across the UK, providing an opportunity to celebrate and share all that is good about the nursing profession. I think it’s safe to say that these awards for 2020 are even more special in a number of ways.”

ChatHealth was selected from a category of 11 fantastic entries in the Nursing in Mental Health category. Judges praised the fact that ChatHealth provided an innovative solution to accessing mental health support, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. They felt it had a great reach, and liked the fact that it gave coverage to social issues as well as mental health support. They were particularly impressed by the robustness of the evaluation and the evidence supporting the initiative.

Accepting the award on behalf of the 2,000-strong community of ChatHealth nurses, clinical lead, Caroline Palmer, said: “This award is not just for the ChatHealth team in Leicestershire, but for all the teams across the country. ChatHealth nurses offer mental health and wellbeing support day in and day out, and it’s wonderful for them to be recognised in this way. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on usage, and demand for ChatHealth text services has massively increased in recent months with as many implementations going live in the last six months as there was in the whole previous year.”

Evidence has shown that young people in particular like the fact that ChatHealth enables them to make discreet contact with health professionals ‘behind a screen’ while busy parents value its convenience. Following a ChatHealth conversation, one young person commented: “I love that it’s anonymous and that it’s a texting service. That means you can openly talk about your problems freely without feeling nervous.”

Linda Trebilcock, Deputy Head of Children Young People and Family services, said: “I would like to thank the team of health visitors and school nurses who set up ChatHealth in Plymouth. It provides another way for young people and their carers to contact our services, especially during the current pandemic.”

Text messages can be sent to the following dedicated numbers:

Livewell ChatHealth 0-5 years Parents Service – 07480 635188
Livewell ChatHealth 5-19 years Parents Service – 07480 635189
Livewell ChatHealth 11-19 years Young Peoples Service – 07480 635198