Supporting young people with complex mental health needs

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP) is a major NHS provider of mental health, learning disability and community health services in the North West of England. With more than 5,000 staff across 70 sites, the Trust serves approximately three million people through its local and specialist services.

Among its clinical innovations is the Cheshire and Merseyside Children and Young People's Complex Needs Escalation and Support Tool (CNEST). Developed by NHS clinicians, CNEST helps health and care professionals identify and understand the complex unmet needs of young people up to the age of 25 experiencing mental health difficulties.

The tool supports consistent decision-making and coordinated action across mental health services, social care and other agencies. Its aim is to identify escalating needs, mobilise support earlier and reduce avoidable admissions to hospital, care or custody.

The need to scale specialist training and assessment delivery

As CNEST adoption expanded, demand for training grew, placing increasing demands on experienced clinicians already balancing clinical responsibilities.

CWP needed a more efficient way to share specialist expertise across services and agencies, while digitising the assessment itself to support consistent application of the methodology in everyday practice.

The Trust sought an integrated solution combining accessible online training with digital assessments, on a platform that could evolve as adoption increased and new requirements emerged.

Developing an integrated digital platform with Tacklit

CWP considered internal development and alternative providers before selecting Tacklit for its flexible platform and capacity to support development beyond the initial training requirements.

Working closely with CWP's clinical team, Tacklit developed a bespoke solution combining online training with digital CNEST assessments, enabling practitioners to learn and apply the methodology within a single platform.

The collaborative implementation focused on ensuring the language, appearance and functionality met the needs of clinicians, practitioners, administrators and commissioners. Evaluation and reporting capabilities were also incorporated to support monitoring, feedback and ongoing improvement.

As Dr Fiona Pender, Clinical Effectiveness Director, explains:

"Tacklit has worked alongside CWP to develop a bespoke digital product that meets the needs of our clinicians and practitioners as well as providing an efficient evaluation and reporting function. It is a platform designed to be user friendly with potential to develop in future."

Figure 1: CNEST Overview

Impact: Expanding access with positive early feedback

The platform launched in July 2026, with early results exceeding expectations.

Since launch, over 300 users have registered for online training, with an average evaluation rating of 4.6 out of 5.

Digital training enables CWP to share specialist clinical knowledge more widely without relying on busy clinicians to deliver every session. Alongside this, digital CNEST assessments give practitioners a more accessible, standardised way to apply the methodology across professional settings.

Integrated evaluation and reporting simplify monitoring and feedback, while the platform provides a foundation for further development and wider adoption of CNEST.

Broader implications: Making clinical innovation more accessible across the NHS

The CWP experience demonstrates how NHS trusts can use digital technology to extend the reach of specialist clinical expertise and locally developed innovations.

By bringing training, assessment delivery and reporting together on a configurable platform, organisations can improve accessibility, support consistent clinical practice and create opportunities for ongoing improvement.

For CWP, the partnership with Tacklit has established a scalable digital foundation for CNEST, supporting its wider adoption across health and care services.