South West Provider Collaborative first to commission Novari Mental Health Coordinated Access & Bed Management System in the NHS

The South West Provider Collaborative has announced it is the first NHS organisation to commission the workflow, referral and waiting list management software supplier Novari Health, following its recent acquisition by VitalHub UK.

In partnership with Insight Technologies, Novari Health will deploy its electronic referral and bed management solution for specialist mental health services in the region, spanning 7 ICBs, over 9,000 square miles, and 5.8million patients.

From April 2026, the technology will be used within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs), Adult Eating Disorders (AED), Inpatient Perinatal Services, and Secure Mental Illness Services.

The Novari Mental Health solution will manage referrals, mental health bed capacity and patient flow across the entire region covered by the South West Provider Collaborative, ensuring patients receive timely care from the most appropriate provider, as close to home as possible.

Dr Jason Fee is medical director, NHS South West Provider Collaborative.

He said: “As a specialised mental healthcare commissioner delivering patient-centred care across an extensive geographical area, it’s vital that we can manage the patient journey from referral to assessment to admission.

“The ability to access real-time bed availability at a regional or unit level means we can optimise bed usage, report on activity and address system pressure points.

“We can also identify any urgent referrals and prioritise patient care according to need”.

The project, already underway, involves integration with the South West Provider Collaborative’s electronic patient record (EPR) systems (Access Rio and SytemOne – TPP), as well as NHS Spine.

Purpose-built for mental health services, the technology will provide real-time bed visibility, structured admission and transfer workflows, centralised referral and triage, waiting list management, and flexible routing.

Once live, Novari’s Mental Health solution will ensure complete and appropriate referrals through configurable triage and workflow tracking, standard referrals from all sources, and real-time region-wide dashboards for visibility of capacity across the whole of the South West.

Trusted by healthcare providers worldwide, this technology has proven its scalability, interoperability, and capacity to deliver comprehensive flow management across multiple locations, geographically-spread services, and complex bed estates.

It streamlines processes, enables better communication among providers, helps to reduce waiting times, and improves access to care for patients.

Novari technology also includes optional AI enhanced analytics that provide real-time data on patient waiting times, helping organisations enhance resource utilisation, identify workflow bottlenecks, and improve operational efficiency.

John Sinclair, President & CEO, Novari Health, said: “This deployment is a milestone for Novari in the UK.

“By unifying referrals and mental health bed management across nine providers and four specialist service lines, the South West Collaborative is setting a new standard for regional coordination of care.

“Our technology is purpose-built to give clinicians and managers the real-time visibility they need to reduce waits, improve access, and ensure patients are treated in the right setting, closer to home.

“We are proud to be a partner in delivering such a forward-looking model of mental health care.”

Mike Sanders, CEO, VitalHub UK, added: “The South West Collaborative is tackling one of the most complex challenges in the NHS: matching scarce specialist resources with patient need at scale.

“Deploying Novari’s mental health solution across this region will not only bring immediate benefits in terms of visibility and efficiency, it also demonstrates how UK health systems can leverage proven, interoperable technologies to transform patient flow across organisational boundaries.

“This is a clear example of technology enabling system-wide improvement for patients and providers alike.”