Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) and Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) are thrilled to announce that they have been shortlisted in the Improving Mental Health through Digital category at the HSJ Digital Awards 2026.
LPT’s Digital Health Transformation Service (DHTS) and NHFT’s Integrated Response Hub launched their Chat Mental Health service in 2025 with the ambition of improving access to crisis support for individuals in Northamptonshire who are unable to talk on a telephone. The ChatHealth text messaging platform, developed by LPT, enables service users to send a text message to qualified mental health practitioners 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to access urgent mental health support, which aligns with NHS England’s guidance to deliver a more inclusive, digitally enabled experience.
Christine Edwards, Service Manager for the Integrated Response Hub at NHFT said: “Our Chat Mental Health service has significantly improved access to our crisis mental health service, particularly for those who are unable or unwilling to use our mental health number phone line. Service users can engage in a text conversation in their own time, at their own pace, creating a safe option for accessing support when needed.”
Jess, a neurodivergent service user who has autism, ASD and additional mental health conditions explained what the service means for them:
“I can type when I’m ready in my own words at my own pace. When I first started using ChatHealth, it was 9-5pm, then it became 24:7, and honestly that change might have been the best thing my local NHS Trust has done. A crisis doesn’t stick to office hours. Having help at any time of night or day has kept me safe, more than once.”
She added: “From the first connection through to project management and implementation support, the ChatHealth team provided invaluable guidance, and helped us deliver a fully inclusive service for those with mental health needs. Staff find ChatHealth easy to use and as service manager I can easily access data to demonstrate effectiveness and further develop this vital part of our services. It’s a great delivery model and one we are delighted to be working in partnership on this.”
Caroline Palmer, DHTS Clinical Lead at LPT said: “We’re proud to have supported Christine’s team to successfully implement ChatHealth and deliver a clinically safe and effective messaging service. The Northamptonshire Chat Mental Health project is an outstanding example of an NHS-led innovation providing a cost-effective, scalable and sustainable solution to meeting the national guidance on crisis text services. We’re already hearing from other NHS Trusts interested in adopting this proven model to help people in crisis to access support quickly and easily.”
The HSJ Digital Awards shine a light on teams and organisations driving meaningful change through technology, improving patient outcomes, streamlining processes, and enhancing the overall quality of care. Being shortlisted is a testament to both teams’ unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence in digital healthcare. The winners will be revealed on 19 June 2026 at the HSJ Digital Awards ceremony.