A WIRRAL company been handed a top business award for their pioneering speciality mental health, trauma and crises aftercare phone app.

KRTS Power to Respond Ltd have been revealed as the June winner of the 2019 Merseyside Innovation Awards (MIA).

Industry experts, KRTS Power to Respond, say they are passionate about ensuring people get the right support following distressing and traumatic events.

The new app meets the standards of the World Health Organisation, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, European Network for Traumatic Stress and the British Psychological Society among others for post-trauma care.

MIA recognised the app for its two functions: to support individuals immediately after a difficult incident and offering loved ones, colleagues and helpers information on how they can support someone.

KRTS Power to Respond Ltd director Cath Kerr told the Globe: “The app sits within a continuum of care, so, although it can be used as a standalone product, we work with each organisation to dovetail it with their existing strategic process.

“Our passion lies with ensuring the right person receives the correct support following a critical incident and our app also helps address the stigma surrounding mental health and normalise reactions as opposed to over-medicalising them.”

MIA is driven locally by sponsor organisations such as: dewinter; Mitchell Charlesworth; Unilever; Liverpool City Region LEP; Natwest; Insider Media; Village Software; WP Thompson; O'Connors; RTC North and BBC Radio Merseyside.

Brian McCann, MIA chairman said: “In Liverpool alone 38,000 people have been diagnosed with depression, and almost 7,000 with severe mental illness and a report by the King’s Fund estimates the mental health expenditure in 2026 to be £1.4 billion in the UK alone.

“The app provides an accessible, early intervention and cost effective service that organisations can deploy at the push of a button to respond instantly to the impact caused by emergency situations, crises, natural and man-made disasters.”

For more information about the Merseyside Innovation Awards visit

http://www.merseysideinnovationawards.co.uk