Occupational therapists have won a national industry award for developing an app to help hospital patients track their progress.

The ‘Pathways’ team at Homerton’s John Howard psychiatric centre took the ‘Psychiatric Team of the Year digital mental health’ title in the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ annual awards held at their Tower Hill offices.

The college recognised the team for “making a difference” in mental health care in east London with an app to help patients achieve their aims while in hospital.

“This is showing we’re on the right track,” the centre’s lead therapist Seán Harte said. “It is a validation for the staff and service users who produced the app together.”

The team had made “an impressive difference in care” for people with complex needs by improving understanding, with a high standard of accessibility for people with learning disabilities or autism, judges said.

The Pathways App lets patients and therapists track progress on healthcare objectives through the hospital.

It also deals with setbacks and guides each step along the way, helping to keep everyone “on the same page”.