Vision: Delivering person-centred and equitable Mental Health support and services for people in Scotland.

Background

The Scottish Health Industry Partnership (SHIP), part of the Scottish government Chief Scientist Office, and the Scottish Government Mental Health and Wellbeing Directorate are investing £750,000 including VAT, in a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) focused on innovating mental health services in Scotland.

The competition provides an opportunity for companies, working in partnership with NHS Scotland regional test beds to develop disruptive innovative solutions that address:

• Young persons challenge

• Hard to reach populations (people with existing mental health conditions and/or people with a co-occurring condition e.g. sensory loss, alcohol, or substance issues)

• Patient centred care pathways

• Treatment resistant conditions

• Prioritisation of backlog

The aim of this competition is to develop disruptive innovative solutions that address:

Challenge A - Supporting people who are not currently receiving treatment and addressing the backlog of patients on waiting lists.

Challenge B - Delivering person-centred and equitable Mental Health support and services to people who are currently receiving treatment by optimising clinical and social care pathways.

The challenge was launched in 2022 and attracted a high number of excellent applications. Five companies have been awarded contracts to take forward their Phase 1 projects.

Phase 1 Results

The Phase 1 feasibility projects commenced in February 2023 and will run for 4 months. Following Phase 1, some of the projects will be taken forward into Phase 2. This involves a 12-month product development project, where the prototype is tested and validated within the NHS Scotland test bed.

SHIP@gov.scot