We know from our listening that an important focus area for south Londoners was children and young people’s mental health. Many parents wanted mental health support for them and their children but did not know where to access it. Specifically, communities asked NHS trusts and local authorities to improve the experience for young people on the waiting list for mental health services by creating a virtual waiting room.

Working with the community we scoped the requirements to deliver this ask through myHealthe. Myhealthe is developed by the Maudsley’s CAMHS Digital Lab, a partnership with King’s College London, bringing digital innovation into clinical care in order to improve the treatment and experience for children, young people and their parents in CAMHS.

MyHealthe began as a way of improving how children’s health information was gathered, allowing their clinical teams to have a much more detailed understanding of their symptoms. The success of the system led the team to collaboration with South London Listens and in response to the community ask, myHealthe was enhanced to serve as a ‘virtual waiting room’ which launched in 2023.

Myhealthe is an online platform designed to navigate through the CAMHS journey and provide resources during wait times. Parents can provide information about their child’s difficulties by completing questionnaires and can track the stage of their child’s referral. MyHealthe has been rolled out across Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark. Over 7,500 families now have access to MyHealthE, which includes new video content and resources curated by CAMHS clinicians to provide information whilst on the wait list and signposting to additional services e.g. KOOTH.

 On 11 May, we held a community-led celebration at St Jonh’s Angell Town, marking the important milestone for this priority area. Parents, teachers, and young people, who begun the journey from early stages of listening, had the opportunity to see how the NHS has turned their listening in action.  Achieved through the brilliant work of CAMHS Digital Lab’s team.

CAMHS Virtual Waiting Room

Visible Waiting Times

South West London St George’s Mental Health Trust (SWLStG) published CAMHS waiting times on a dedicated CAMHS page their trust website. The CAMHS team worked together with community leaders to develop this and provide open and clear information about wait times. Oxleas followed suit by publishing CAMHS waiting times. See here.