Kent and Medway Mental Health Introduces Tools to Capture Peer Support Outcomes in EPR

Why It Matters

Digitising peer‑support data provides robust evidence for lived‑experience roles, strengthening their place in mental‑health pathways and informing service improvement across the NHS.

Key Takeaways

• New HAO outcome measure added to EPR
• Dedicated peer support tab enables real‑time documentation
• SNOMED code standardizes peer support activity logging
• Improves evidence base for lived‑experience roles
• Supports NHS digital integration and outcome measurement

Pulse Analysis

The introduction of the Hope, Agency and Opportunity (HAO) outcome measure marks a significant step toward quantifying the intangible benefits of peer support in mental health. By embedding a dedicated tab within the electronic patient record, clinicians can now capture the nuances of lived‑experience interventions in real time, linking them directly to clinical outcomes. This granular data not only validates the therapeutic value of peer workers but also equips managers with actionable insights to refine staffing models and allocate resources where they drive the greatest recovery gains.

Kent and Medway’s initiative aligns with a broader NHS digital transformation, where trusts such as Rotherham, Kingston and Richmond, and East Cheshire are modernising their EPR ecosystems. These organisations are extending contracts, procuring new platforms, and integrating voice‑activated tools to create seamless data flows across acute and community settings. The convergence on standardised coding, like SNOMED, ensures that peer‑support activities are interoperable with other clinical data, facilitating cross‑trust analytics and supporting national performance dashboards.

For the mental‑health sector, the ability to systematically record peer‑support outcomes could reshape service design and funding decisions. Robust evidence will empower policymakers to justify the expansion of lived‑experience roles, while clinicians gain clearer visibility into which interventions most effectively promote patient recovery. As digital records become richer, the NHS can move from anecdotal praise to data‑driven endorsement of peer support, ultimately delivering more personalised and effective care.