NHS develops ECT app for mental health patients

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and CommonTime have collaborated to create an electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) app which has been made freely availably on the App Store and Google Play.

The ECT app will provide detailed, accurate and engaging information on ECT and will allow patients to access key contact information for specialists. It is hoped the app will help overcome the stigma ECT has faced over the years as a result of invalid information.

Dr Girish Kunigiri, consultant psychiatrist at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust and project clinical lead, said: “Electro-convulsive therapy can be life-saving for patients suffering from severe psychiatric conditions. But despite high success rates in helping patients, stigma still exists.

“The ECT App is the first of its kind in psychiatry and an exemplary use of modern technology to educate patients and clinicians and to break stigma in mental health. For patients and their families, the app describes the whole ECT procedure from preparation to recovery, allowing people to make informed decisions in the consent process. GPs, support workers and other non-psychiatry specialists too can also better understand what this life-saving treatment really means for patients.”

ECT has existed for over 75 years and has been used to treatment patients suffering from debilitating resistant cases of severe depression, mania and catatonia. However, over recent years the treatment has declined in use.

The app will aim to dispel the myths surrounding ECT by providing trustworthy information from the trust’s ECT centre and real patients stories.

Sarah Ost, service delivery manager, at the Leicestershire Health Informatics Service, said: “This project signals a very important move in the way the NHS develops IT capabilities. Through our partnership with CommonTime, we have developed a ground-breaking app of relevance to clinical challenges across the NHS and beyond. Anyone can download the ECT app, but we also now look forward to helping other trusts across the country tailor this application and others, to spread benefits to many more patients and professionals as quickly as possible.”

Steve Carvell, head of healthcare at CommonTime said: “Mobile technology has enormous potential in the NHS and in helping to change perceptions around mental health and associated treatments. Apps, like the ECT tool, are extremely valuable in placing reliable, trusted and engaging information into the hands of patients and their support network. The staff at Leicestershire have been determined to quickly develop their ability to produce useful technology that can provide potentially life-saving information to people in the way that they need it.”