NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has commissioned a digital mental health and well being platform to provide digital mental health and well being support to adults.

The platform, Qwell, offers adults free , confidential and personalised digital mental health care that is accessible 24/7, all year round.

Designed to work alongside other NHS commissioned services within mental health pathways, the service will help to improve accessibility and reduce waiting times for patients seeking secondary mental health care support.

Hannah Lewis, Mental Health Commissioning Manager, NHS Wirral CCG said: “Kooth has been available in Wirral for a number of years and we recognise the value in children and young people being able to access immediate, online, mental health support.

“I am pleased that adults in Wirral now have a similar offering via the Qwell platform, and will have access to online counselling sessions, chat functions, peer support forums and a wealth of material on various topics such as low mood, anxiety, stress and more.

“We know that the pandemic has had a massive impact on people’s mental health and the hope is that having access to an anonymous, flexible service will encourage people to reach out for support.”

Access to Qwell is immediate and there is no need for a referral from a healthcare professional or any thresholds to meet.

Children and young people across Wirral already have access to the Kooth.com service which offers professional counselling and support to anyone aged between 11 and 25.

Qwell provides adults with a free, safe and convenient means of accessing mental health support via a team of qualified counsellors.

Adults can access the service anonymously by logging onto the website and get counselling sessions, including one-on-one sessions with fully trained practitioners, run from midday to 10pm on weekdays and from 6pm to 10pm at weekends.

Appointments can be booked in advance or accessed as a drop-in instant text-based chats.