Getting the most out of NHS Talking Therapies data using data science
Transforming Care
29 August 2023
By Alice
We were pleased to bring together the Mayden team and so many iaptus customers at the iaptus User Group. Hosted at the Engine Shed in Bristol, it was an insightful day with our customers. In one of the workshops, our Data Science Team spoke to mental health services about getting the most out of NHS Talking Therapies data as well as some of the innovative projects the team work on.
What is an iaptus User Group?
Our User Groups present opportunities for our wonderful customers to come together, meet each other and connect over shared experiences. User Groups enable Mayden to share past and planned developments to iaptus. Additionally, and most importantly, to gather feedback from our users, ensuring that a variety of voices are heard.
The Mayden Data Science Team
The wealth of data collected by Talking Therapies services has potential to support service improvement and revolutionise care delivery. The Mayden Data Science Team works to identify and develop innovative technologies that can empower services to get the most out of the data that they collect.
Understanding NHS Talking Therapies data workshop
During this workshop, our team introduced some of the innovative projects that aim to bring cutting edge research into iaptus. There were loads of activities, which gave us the opportunity to hear your feedback and to shape the direction of these projects together.
The projects we covered on the day were:
- Analysing care pathways in NHS Talking Therapies data – demand and capacity modelling
- Analysing repeated referrals – patients who return for more treatment
- Analysing use of digital technologies – video therapy
So, what did we learn?
We saw a lot of enthusiasm for tools for analysing performance and capacity across the care pathway and for decision support tools which could simulate a dynamic model of the care pathway. Users were excited to understand how this might help them to investigate the impact of hypothetical scenarios, such as adding therapist resource at different parts of the pathway.
There was a great discussion about people returning for treatment and how important this is for mental health services to understand. We discussed a few contributing factors such as social deprivation and recovery status and captured who in a service needs to know if a patient might return for treatment.
Linking back to the talk from our guest speaker earlier in the day, Rachel Heggart – Talking Therapies Project Manager at NHSE – discussed the digital pathway guidance. We discussed the use of video in Talking Therapies to round off the workshop. We discussed how video sessions compare to face-to-face therapy and the challenges faced when offering video therapy, including technological challenges, digital literacy and equity.
For more information on our upcoming user groups and events, keep an eye on your iaptus newsfeed.