A new clinic to help boost mental health is being trialled with patients for the first time in Faversham.

The partnership involving the NHS, the Newton Place Surgery, the University of Kent and mental health charity Mind launched earlier this month.

The £1 million grant has been awarded to fund the pilot scheme providing a new clinic which combines a smartphone app for people suffering with low mood, anxiety or depression.

Health and social care specialists work from Newton Place Surgery in Faversham on Saturday mornings offering walk-in appointments.

Patients can arrive at the surgery and fill out an information questionnaire via the new i-spero app developed to run alongside the appointments.

The app means people can register details about how they are feeling and will be checked by a GP alongside their patient records to choose the best treatment available, whether medication needs to be changed and the best clinician available to suit their needs.

The clinic is running for a year with the first sessions opening on July 6 and is the first of its kind in the UK to combine technology and clinical teams.

The sessions are led by teams from the One You Kent lifestyle advisers and Faversham Counselling.

Dr Vanessa Short, from Newton Place Surgery, said: “This is a groundbreaking project where we have funding to develop an app and see how this technology works alongside a multidisciplinary team in real life.

"At the end of it we will see how this integrated approach can improve care.

"The app means we can quickly deal with any issues as they happen rather than waiting for a patient to make an appointment by which time their condition has often deteriorated.

"It might be that a patient needs to be put in touch with a voluntary organisation or a walking group – it depends what is the best match for the patient’s needs. Whatever the plan is, the patient can be in control by recording progress on the app."

The i-spero app helps patients by providing personalised recommendations and sets out whether treatment is working to help doctors plan effective treatment.

The grant from Innovate UK will help fund further research about how digital technology can help treating depression.

Caroline Selkirk, managing director for the four east Kent clinical commissioning groups, says digital healthcare can "dramatically improve" the way the NHS helps patients.

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