Accelerating the implementation of digital mental health tech in the NHS through Digital Navigators
Updated: Aug 11
The UK Government's Mental Health Goals (MHG) Programme has launched a Digital Navigator model to accelerate the adoption of digital mental health technologies across the NHS.
Delivered through the Mental Health Digital Innovation (MHDI) workstream, the programme aims to address one of the greatest barriers to digital innovation in healthcare: translating promising technologies into sustainable routine practice.
Background to Digital Navigator Model
In 2020, Dr John Torous, Harvard Medical School, developed the Digital Navigator role and associated training in the United States. Building on this work, the GM.Digital Research Unit established a Volunteer Digital Navigator programme at the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Volunteers complete a four-week training programme before working with both clinical and non-clinical teams to support the adoption of digital mental health technologies. In 2022, a Research Digital Navigator also supported the implementation of Lumi Nova in Greater Manchester and played an important role in the successful delivery of this research.
Speaking about the impact of the Volunteer Digital Navigator programme, Charlotte Stockton-Powdrell, Co-Director of the GM.Digital Research Unit, said: “The Volunteer Digital Navigator programme was a pioneering initiative. It created an opportunity for volunteers to learn about mental health research and clinical practice, and how they can support the implementation of digital tools by adding capacity to clinical teams. The success of both the Volunteer Digital Navigator and the Research Digital Navigator roles were catalysts for expanding the programme through the MHDI workstream, and we are delighted to be able to support this national expansion.”
The Digital Navigator Model in the MHDI Workstream
Digital Navigators are specialist implementation practitioners who work alongside NHS organisations, clinical teams, service users and technology providers to support the adoption, embedding and long-term use of digital mental health technologies. Rather than supporting the rollout of a single technology, the Digital Navigator model is designed to support the implementation of multiple digital mental health technologies across different NHS Trusts.
Digital Navigators and CareLoop
CareLoop is the first technology to be implemented through the MHDI Digital Navigator model. As a NICE-recommended, UKCA-certified platform supporting people with psychosis through real-time monitoring, relapse prevention and earlier intervention, it provides the first real-world opportunity to evaluate and refine the model. Learning from its implementation will be used to create a transferable blueprint for the adoption of future digital mental health technologies.
"The Digital Navigator role creates trusted, focused capacity, embedded in the infrastructure of the NHS"
Zoë Blake, CEO, CareLoop
Building a Scalable NHS Implementation Blueprint
Digital mental health technologies often fail to achieve widespread adoption not because they lack clinical value, but because NHS services need dedicated capacity to integrate them into routine care. Digital Navigators provide that capacity by coordinating implementation, delivering training and onboarding, and troubleshooting barriers to adoption as technologies are integrated into routine clinical workflows. They work across the different groups involved in implementation, helping NHS organisations, clinical teams, technology providers and service users adopt and use technologies effectively. This reduces the implementation burden on clinical teams while improving readiness, engagement, confidence and the likelihood of sustained use.
This work is informing the development of a scalable implementation blueprint comprising standard operating procedures, implementation frameworks, governance processes, training resources and practical toolkits that address common barriers to adoption and can be adapted for future digital mental health technologies.
The long-term ambition is to establish a national implementation model that enables digital mental health innovations to be deployed more rapidly, consistently and equitably across NHS services while supporting digital inclusion so that people with lower digital confidence are not left behind.
Ayla Ozkan, Digital Navigator Lead, said: “As Digital Navigator Team Lead, I make sure the service runs smoothly and supports both service users and clinical teams. I'm a clinician by background and have experience in rolling out both service user apps and new electronic patient records so, for me, bringing mental health and digital innovation together to improve outcomes and experience of care is what it's all about.
"I love helping staff and service users use technology that's going to make their day-to-day lives easier, especially those underserved or less digitally confident people. Overseeing a team of passionate Digital Navigators is just fantastic, they are the heartbeat of the service – bridging digital tools and real care to support earlier, more proactive support.”
Zoë Blake, CEO, CareLoop, said: “This programme represents a new model for how the NHS adopts technology in mental health. Digital Navigators bridge the 'ownership gap’ - where the burden of implementation has historically fallen either on already over-stretched clinical staff, who have no capacity to spare, or on digital health companies, who are unable to fully integrate into NHS care pathways. The Digital Navigator role creates trusted, focused capacity, embedded in the infrastructure of the NHS. In the context of the government's commitment to shifting the NHS from analogue to digital, this is exactly the kind of practical foundation needed to make that vision a reality."
Pauline Whelan, co-lead with Trina Histon of the Mental Health Digital Innovation Workstream of the Mental Health Goals Programme, said: “The MDHI is delighted to launch the Digital Navigator Programme. Successfully embedding digital innovation in healthcare requires more than just introducing new technologies; it requires the right people, skills and support. The Digital Navigator programme provides that implementation capacity, helping clinical teams integrate digital mental health technologies with confidence and creating the foundations for long-term, sustainable change that can bring real benefit to service users across the NHS.”
About the Mental Health Digital Innovation (MHDI) Workstream
MHDI is the digital workstream of the UK Government's Mental Health Goals (MHG) Programme. MHDI brings together the NHS, academia, industry, technology providers and people with lived experience to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based digital mental health technologies across the NHS. Through partnerships, implementation expertise and workforce innovation, MHDI is developing the infrastructure and implementation approaches needed to translate digital innovation into routine mental healthcare.
About the Mental Health Goals Programme
The Mental Health Goals (MHG) Programme is a major UK Government initiative designed to accelerate the development of new and more effective approaches to mental health research, treatment and care. The programme aims to create a more coordinated and innovative mental health research ecosystem while ensuring that people with lived experience remain at the heart of future discovery, development and implementation.
Funded by the Office for Life Sciences and delivered by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the programme is investing up to £50 million over five years to build world-leading infrastructure in mental health data, digital technology, genomics, clinical trials and lived experience partnerships.
The Mental Health Goals Programme forms part of the UK's broader ambition to become a global leader in mental health research, innovation and precision psychiatry. The programme is jointly co-chaired by Professor Kathryn Abel and Professor Husseini Manji, with Dr Vaibhav Narayan serving as Chief Industry, Data Science and Digital Health Officer.
About CareLoop
CareLoop Health is a NICE-recommended Health Tech company helping NHS teams predict and prevent relapse in severe mental illness. Backed by 10+ years of research and clinical trials, our platform reduces hospitalisations and improves outcomes for people living with psychosis.
For more information, contact mhdi@manchester.ac.uk or visit the MHDI website.
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