App to support teenage mental health designed by Peterborough hospital trust IT expert

Hospital IT guru Trish Poulter has used her hi-tech know-how to help design a prototype app aimed at supporting teenagers with their mental well-being.

Trish was among around 150 health workers to attend a national NHS event which promotes technology as a solution or support for everyday challenges.

The NHS Hack Day – promoted as an event for ‘Geeks who love the NHS’ - is an annual Dragon’s Den-style weekend, where staff from all disciplines pitch their ideas for effective and efficient practices.

An advert for the event captured the interest and imagination of North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust’s Information Systems Developer, Trish, who put herself forward to represent the Trust.

She played a key part in a winning team which brainstormed, researched, designed and delivered a pitch on the prototype app PAWS – Personalised AI for Wellbeing Support.

Trish explained: “I arrived at the weekend not really knowing what to expect or what was expected of me. The room was full of NHS workers from all backgrounds who simply wanted to explore low-cost solutions or ‘hacks’ to challenges they face in their own professional lives on a daily basis.

“I opted to join a team to design and develop an engaging, relatable, useful, accessible and supportive app for teenagers to help with anxiety, mood and other mental health issues.

“We brainstormed and researched the topic and I came up with the name PAWS – suggesting that we use age-appropriate graphics, similar to those used throughout gaming, to make it relatable to users – and introduce a range of emojis and avatars to allow them to express their mood and chat about their feelings.”

Trish and the team used industry-recognised AI chat software to create an automated response service for users, similar to chat bots.

A panel of external judges rated each of the 13 projects developed during the two-day event – with Trish and her team taking the top spot.

She said: “As an agile worker mostly based at home, this was a fantastic opportunity to network and share insights into the challenges faced by NHS Trusts in general, and how collaborating on and sharing software ideas can create effective solutions without huge costs.

“It was refreshing to be part of an event at which everybody cares deeply about the NHS and the Trust at which they work.”

Trust Chief Medical Officer, Dr Callum Gardner, said: “Huge thanks to Trish for her pro-activeness in attending this event and for sharing her know-how with NHS colleagues outside of our own Trust.

“The NHS Hack Day provides an excellent opportunity for colleagues around the country to pool ideas and work collaboratively around best practice.”

Featured projects from the weekend and other events are uploaded to the NHS website as a learning and resource tool for Trusts around the UK.