Evaluation shows Tellmi provides cost saving to the NHS
An economic evaluation of Tellmi’s digital mental health service has shown it provides a significant cost saving to the NHS.
The evaluation, conducted by the York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC) and published in BMJ Paediatrics, estimates that using Tellmi’s early help digital solution leads to an annual cost saving to the NHS of £214 per person, excluding service costs (Ng et al., 2025).
Cost-effective solutions to the mental health crisis among children and young people are vital because poor mental health is estimated to cost the economy at least £300 billion a year in England (Cardoso & McHayle, 2024). One in five young people has a diagnosable mental health disorder, but the NHS currently only meets 40% of need (NHS, 2023). Investment in easily accessible mental health solutions, such as Tellmi, is desperately needed because the long-term impact of mental health problems in childhood costs the UK a total of £550 billion in lost earnings across the lifespan (UCL, IFS & RAND Corporation, 2015).
YHEC’s economic evaluation, which measured healthcare resource use over a three-month period with 283 young people, confirmed that the Tellmi digital intervention reduces NHS expenditure. Outcomes from the evaluation showed using Tellmi for one month or more led to annual cost saving of £214 per person to the NHS, excluding service costs. The savings were driven by reductions in the use of emergency services, visits to A&E, use of GPs and school counsellors.
Tellmi has also been independently evaluated and is evidenced to increase confidence and connectedness, decrease loneliness, strengthen self-resilience and improve mental health self-management skills (Ravaccia et al., 2022).
In areas where Tellmi is commissioned, young people have immediate access to anonymous, pre-moderated (by humans) peer-to-peer support with rapid counsellor intervention for high-risk users. Tellmi also integrates 1-2-1 text-based Tellmi Therapy using a Solution Focused Therapy approach, specialist support extensions for autism, employment and diabetes, and a Directory of over 900 local and national resources and services. Tellmi is a scalable digital solution with no waiting list and no need for a referral.
Tellmi is available to commission via the Mental Health and Wellbeing Services National Framework Agreement.
To find out more about commissioning Tellmi in your area, contact info@tellmi.help.
