It’s important that people get the right support at the right time. By supporting people in the right way sooner, we can help prevent their mental health from worsening, and we can better support people on their path to recovery.
At Everyturn Mental Health, we’ve developed a new, data driven way to support clinical decision-making. We developed this tool to improve people’s experiences of NHS Talking Therapies, achieve better outcomes, and support earlier intervention by improving efficiency and helping people access the right care and support from the start.
Our data-led Pathway Alignment Tool (PAT) supports clinicians to make more informed and consistent decisions about which talking therapy pathway is most likely to meet a person’s needs, based on what they’re experiencing and the outcomes of people with similar needs. By reducing time spent on non-clinical tasks and supporting effective clinical decision-making, PAT enables more practitioner time to be focused where it matters most, delivering care and supporting people on their journey to better mental health.
What is our Pathway Alignment Tool (PAT)?
PAT is a digital tool for NHS Talking Therapies services. PAT uses clinical guidance, patient outcome data and AI technology to identify the most appropriate clinical intervention for people on waiting lists, using the least intrusive intervention first principles.
It looks at information we already collect, like what a person is struggling with, their assessment scores and a few basic personal details to support clinicians in thinking about the best starting point for that person’s care.
PAT doesn’t make decisions on its own. Although PAT is data-led, clinicians still use their professional experience and judgement. PAT simply provides colleagues with extra information to help them make decisions about the support someone might need.
Why is the PAT needed?
Like many NHS Talking Therapies services, we were seeing waiting lists because of increased demand on our services. Our team also noticed that some people were later found to be on the wrong intervention pathway, leading us away from the ‘least intrusive intervention first’ principle. We also found that people were missing appointments when they were on the wrong pathway. PAT supported us to use therapist time more effectively, and improve the experience of people using the service. By reducing the amount of time people spend on waiting lists, people can move quicker from referral to assessment, and to treatment.
Getting it right sooner can help people access the right support sooner, improving their experience and outcomes.
This means we can go even further to support earlier intervention and prevention, reducing the risk of someone’s mental health worsening while waiting for support and helping prevent the need for more intensive interventions later on.
PAT also helps to ease pressure on teams and services, reducing admin time for clinicians when reviewing and making decisions. With support, clinicians can use more of their time on providing interventions, and increasing opportunities for productivity.
PAT can also help deliver cost savings across the system. When someone is placed on the wrong pathway, changing their pathway later on can require additional time and resources. By helping people onto the right pathway sooner, resources can be used more effectively where they are needed most.
By supporting clinicians to choose the least intensive therapy that is still right for the person’s needs, people can get suitable support as soon as possible.
What difference is PAT making?
Our Pathway Alignment Tool (PAT) is already helping our services make better use of time and information. Early results show shorter waits, fewer missed appointments and better understanding of how people move through our services.
From February 2024 to February 2025, Everyturn’s Pathway Alignment Tool:
- Waiting times between a person’s first and second appointment reduced by 25% for Step 2, 31% for Step 3 CBT and 44% for Step 3 Counselling.
- Missed appointment rates reduced by 9% for Step 2, 19% for Step 3 CBT and 25% for Step 3 Counselling.
- Teams are using the NHS Talking Therapies approach more consistently.
- Leaders now have clearer information about how well therapy routes are working and where services can improve.
Source: Sample Everyturn analytics and service performance review, February 2024
These results show that a simple, well-designed digital tool can make a real difference. By helping people start on the right route, PAT can reduce delays, support staff and improve the experience for people using our services.
Supporting the NHS 10 Year Health Plan
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan focuses on three big changes: moving more care into the community, making better use of digital tools, and helping people earlier before problems get worse. We’re really proud that PAT supports each of these.
Making use of digital tools
We can use tools like PAT to make mental health support easier to access. For the people we support, it should be a simple, straightforward process from self-referral/being referred in, all the way through to leaving the service after their therapy.
Tools that are driven by data can also support colleagues to feel informed with the right information to make effective decisions. When decisions are data-driven, it reduces the chance of variation, ultimately improving consistency and making evidence-based decisions, supporting people in the right place and at the right time.
Helping people earlier
When someone gets the right support sooner, there are less chance of delays, or their needs becoming more complex.
PAT helps clinicians choose the most suitable starting point, so people can begin the right support earlier. This helps to prevent someone’s mental health deteriorating while on waiting lists, or while receiving support on the wrong pathway, and it supports us to help get people support before they reach crisis point.
Supporting care in the community
NHS Talking Therapies services are an important part of mental health support in local communities. PAT helps these services manage demand and keep care moving, so more people can be supported closer to home.
For us, developing PAT is about helping people get the right support as early as possible. It gives clinicians all of the information they need to make safe and effective decisions, helps teams understand what is working, and supports a more consistent experience for people using our services.
As the NHS looks to the future, PAT shows how digital tools can inform how we adapt to service challenges. By using information well and keeping people’s needs at the heart of everything, we can help more people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Want to learn more?
If you’d like to find out more or have a chat with our development team, visit our partner with us page.