Tech transforms diagnosis of mental health

The platform helps clinicians reduce waiting times

Spotted: As of 2019, one out of eight people worldwide were living with a mental disorder, including depression and anxiety. In the UK, like many other countries, waiting lists for mental health care continue to grow, leaving those in need unable to access essential support.

Helping to reduce those waiting times by cutting down on the time it takes clinicians to assess and diagnose patients is mental healthcare technology company Psyomics. The company, a spin-out of Cambridge University’s Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research (CCNR), created the Censeo platform for web-based mental health triage and assessment.

Censeo uses an algorithm to tailor questions to the individual and ask personalised queries based on recognised criteria, National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance, and continuous feedback from patients and clinicians. Following trials and its first year of commercial use in 2023, clinician assessments agreed with Censeo’s diagnoses 91 per cent of the time, and healthcare professionals report that using the platform increases their clinical efficiency by up to 50 per cent.

The platform helps more patients be seen by a mental health team faster, reducing wait times and supporting clinical teams in managing increasing numbers of patients. In 2023, Psyomics provided Censeo on a commercial basis to five UK healthcare organisations. Following a £4 million funding round in 2024, Psyomics plans to expand services to include specialist assessments for children and young people’s mental healthcare.

Written By: Keely Khoury