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Offering instant, equitable access to mental health treatment for millions

Scaling in Scotland

In partnership with Big Health, Scotland was the first country in the world to make digital therapeutics for anxiety and insomnia available nationally, no prescription necessary. Championing evidence-based, non-drug interventions, the Scottish Government commissioned Sleepio and Daylight across its population of 5 million people.

Within a week of launching our digital CBT programmes, we saw over 1,000 patients start therapy, showing the scalability and accessibility of digital CBT, especially for those who may not traditionally reach out to the NHS. 

Our position is echoed by the Scottish Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care, Kevin Stewart:

Digital mental health is critical to help scale much-needed services and provide additional choice for people to manage their mental health. After assessing the effectiveness of Daylight and Sleepio, we are pleased to launch these treatments nationwide, providing clinically validated solutions for those who need it most.

You can learn more about our partnership with the Scottish Government here: https://www.bighealth.com/news/scotland-becomes-first-country-in-the-world-to-make-digital-therapeutics-for-anxiety-and-insomnia-available-nationally/

Hear More From Big Health

We’re headlining HTN’s Digital Primary Care Conference on 2 March 2022 and bringing some of our partners – sign up using the link (it’s free for the NHS)

Talk to us about our time-limited offer for partner NHS organisations between now and 31 March 2022. Reach out to partnerships-uk@bighealth.com.

About Big Health

Big Health was founded in 2010 by Peter Hames and Professor Colin Espie, world-renowned clinical psychologist, and Professor at the University of Oxford.

Daylight and Sleepio administer evidenced-based CBT in a fully digital format, effectively providing non-drug alternatives for sleep and mental health. Gold-standard randomised controlled trials (RCTs) showed that 71% of patients who used Daylight achieved remission from anxiety and 76% of patients who used Sleepio achieved clinically significant sleep improvements1,2.


1. Carl, J. R., Miller, C. B., Henry, A. L., Davis, M. L., Stott, R., Smits, J. A., … & Espie, C. A. (2020). Efficacy of digital cognitive behavioral therapy for moderate‐to‐severe symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder: A randomised controlled trial. Depression and Anxiety, 37(12), 1168-1178

2. Espie, C. A., Kyle, S. D., Williams, C., Ong, J. C., Douglas, N. J., Hames, P., & Brown, J. S. (2012). A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of online cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic insomnia disorder delivered via an automated media-rich web application. Sleep, 35(6), 769-781.

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