A suite of online therapies for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders has been developed by the University of Oxford.
The therapies will tackle mental health conditions across all age groups from children to adults.
They have been created to combat urgent treatment requirements for those suffering from a range of mental health conditions, despite the government committing to spending almost nine per cent of all NHS funding on mental health treatment last year.
The online tools were developed and clinically validated by the university's Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry Departments.
Patients work through a series of online modules with the brief support of a therapist through short phone or video calls and messages.
Dr Simon Warner, head of licensing and ventures at Oxford University Innovation, said: "These four mental health digital therapies are a fantastic example of the world class expertise within the University of Oxford which has enabled us to launch cutting edge therapies with our industry partner Koa Health.
"The therapies are tried and tested and now readily available to help change the lives of people suffering from mental health conditions."
The services have been licenced to Koa Heath, which will look to make the programmes available to patients across many NHS services, beginning in West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire, Bradford, North Tyneside and London.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) early value assessment recommended nine online therapies for use across the NHS.
The therapies developed by the University of Oxford team represent four of the nine.
Professor Cathy Creswell, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, whose team developed the childhood anxiety programme, said: "Recent surveys suggest ongoing increases in the number of children and young people that are experiencing anxiety problems."
She added the platforms "provide practical tools with guidance and support to help tackle issues from home".
Oliver Harrison, CEO at Koa Health, added: "Koa Health is committed to delivering scalable, evidence-based interventions for mental health.
"The programmes developed by the Oxford teams can lower the barriers to care, deliver excellent outcomes, and reduce the cost to health services.
"In short, this means that our NHS is able to treat more people and improve mental health across the population.
"With an impeccable evidence base and approval by NICE, we see great potential to expand these programmes worldwide, helping children and adults.”
The team at the University of Oxford, Koa Health and Oxford University Innovation will work together to maximise the adoption of all four therapies adopted across NHS Trusts and schools over the coming year.
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