New mental health support service for Bexley residents
The NHS South East London Clinical Commissioning Group has commissioned Qwell, a free, anonymous online counselling and emotional wellbeing service for adults from digital mental health pioneers Kooth. The site is accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and offers early preventative care and support.
Anyone aged over 26 years of age and living in the London Borough of Bexley, or other parts of south east London, can receive counselling sessions from qualified counsellors via an online chat-based platform. Chats can either be accessed through a drop-in service or pre-booked sessions from any connected device. The site is open 24 hours a day; one-to-one counselling sessions with a qualified counsellor are available from 12-noon until 10pm on weekdays, and from 6pm until 10pm on weekends.
Those using Qwell are also be able to take advantage of a range of self-help tools from reading and contributing to articles, peer to peer support via online discussion boards as well as journals and goal trackers.
Dr Nancy Kuchemann, GP and Clinical Lead for Mental Health at NHS South East London Clinical Commissioning Group said:
“The pandemic and months of restrictions have had an impact on everybody’s mental wellbeing. I’m really pleased that we are launching this innovative service to support south east London residents. It is so easy to use and can really help people who are struggling.”
