Digital referrals for child and adolescent mental health services in Liverpool & Sefton: access up, waits down after the settling-in period.

Children and young people in the UK face rising mental health needs alongside constrained access. In Liverpool and Sefton, a digital referral platform created a single front door into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), enabling referrals from professionals, parents and CYP themselves, with integration to the electronic patient record and links to trusted self-help resources.

Using real-world data, the study compared the first 12 months post-launch with the prior year. Total referrals rose by 1,314, with a 71% increase in parent/CYP-led referrals and a shift away from professional-only referrals. Early implementation brought a temporary rise in median waiting time to first appointment (53.9 days vs 37.8 days pre-implementation; p < 0.001), but by months 10–12 waiting times fell significantly (e.g., −31.5 days in month 12; p < 0.001). Acceptance and redirection both increased alongside volume; rejections also rose, reflecting the surge in self-referrals and capacity pressures.

Takeaways: a co-designed digital front door can broaden access and, after an initial adjustment period, improve timeliness. Pairing referral growth with operational planning (triage rules, staffing, and feedback loops) is critical to avoid longer early waits, and further work should examine condition-specific impacts and cost-effectiveness beyond the pandemic context.

Reference:
 Neiva Ganga R, Santa K, Ali M, Smith G. The Impact of a Digital Referral Platform to Improve Access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: A Prospective Observational Study with Real-World Data. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024;21(10):1318. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21101318