Children and Young People's Mental Health Services Referral Innovation. Co-design and validation methodology

Children and young people's mental health services (CYPMHS) at Liverpool and Sefton Clinical Commissioning Groups referrals were paper-based. Paper-based referrals are inefficient and generate delays between appointments, which affect negatively on children and young people's mental health outcomes. Under a pilot-scale project funded by NHS England and with initial support from NHSX, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust co-created with partner agencies the “CYP as One” to improve and digitally innovate the current mental health services provided to children and young people across Liverpool and Sefton region. “CYP as One” was created to improve the user flow for the children, young people, families and carers, as well as make the process easier and better for the teams that support them. This paper provides a reflective and critical analysis of the “CYP as One” platform co-creation and validation methodology. The innovation platform was launched in May 2021 and, currently, the authors are gathering real-world data on the innovation platform usage to validate the innovation claimed health and economic outcomes. It is anticipated that "CYP as One" will improve experience, communication and access to information from the young people themselves, their families and wider stakeholders. In addition, there is an expectation of reduced waiting times and "did not attend" cancellations and other benefits identified through costs and clinical time.