Speek: Expanding access to evidence-based mental health support
Find out how Speek Health is helping children and young people who self-harm access timely, evidence-based mental health support.
For many children and young people who self-harm, accessing timely, evidence-based mental health support remains a significant challenge. While Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is the only NICE-recommended intervention specifically for self-harm, it is intensive to deliver and often unavailable due to limited capacity, leaving many young people waiting months or even years for support.
Speek Health is working to change that. By developing a digital programme that increases access to evidence-based DBT skills, Speek is helping more children and young people receive effective support earlier, while complementing existing NHS services rather than replacing them.
Now an NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) fellow, Dr Olivia Collier is working to scale Speek across the NHS, with the ambition of making evidence-based mental health support more accessible for every young person who needs it.
What is Speek and what problem does it solve?
Speek Health is a digital programme designed to increase access to evidence-based support for children and young people who self-harm.
At present, DBT is the only NICE-recommended treatment specifically for self-harm. However, because it is resource-intensive and costly to deliver, many services are unable to offer it to everyone who could benefit.
Speek has been developed alongside young people to make evidence-based DBT skills available to more children and young people, helping them access support sooner while working alongside existing NHS care pathways.
The programme is designed to increase access to treatment, improve engagement and complement the support already being delivered by clinical teams.
“Ultimately, the aim is to ensure that fewer young people have to wait for the help they need.”
“Ultimately, the aim is to ensure that fewer young people have to wait for the help they need.”
What was your inspiration and motivation?
Before joining Speek, Olivia spent more than 12 years working in NHS mental health services and as a research psychologist. Throughout that time, one challenge remained constant, seeing children and young people wait far too long to access specialist support.
Those experiences highlighted the need for earlier intervention and more accessible ways of delivering evidence-based care.
Joining Speek presented an opportunity to combine that academic background with innovation, helping to bring evidence-based mental health support to more young people than would be possible through clinical practice alone.
“Seeing young people with complex needs waiting years to access support. That’s really upsetting to witness every day. I loved working in the NHS, but I wanted to think differently about doing work that could reach more people, their systems, and make a bigger difference.”
“Seeing young people with complex needs waiting years to access support. That’s really upsetting to witness every day. I loved working in the NHS, but I wanted to think differently about doing work that could reach more people, their systems, and make a bigger difference.”
Why did you become a fellow?
For Olivia, joining the NIA represented both professional recognition and an opportunity to learn from others working to improve healthcare.
The fellowship provides validation that the innovation addresses a genuine clinical need while offering access to experienced peers, mentors and NHS leaders.
Alongside supporting Speek’s growth, Olivia hopes to deepen her understanding of innovation, product development and how lasting change happens across the NHS.
“The NIA recognises innovations that are solving real clinical problems. Being part of such a credible programme, alongside other innovators, has been hugely validating. I want to learn more about business, product development and how you create change across the NHS. That’s something the fellowship is already helping me to do.”
Looking ahead
Over the course of the fellowship, Olivia hopes to continue developing both clinically and professionally, bringing new knowledge and experience back into Speek as the organisation grows.
Looking further ahead, the ambition is for Speek to become a recognised and trusted part of children’s mental health services across the NHS.
“I’d love Speek to become a well-known name so that every young person who needs it has access to our support. I want to show that if you do things with clinical rigour, academic evidence and strong values, you can innovate differently.”
Ultimately, the goal is to improve access to evidence-based mental health support for children and young people, helping more young people receive the care they need, when they need it most.
Want to find out more? Visit the innovation page where you can contact the innovator directly, or check out their website.
