Impact and Evidence

We Can Talk holds the world’s largest dataset on hospital staff’s experiences of supporting patients in mental health crisis. We continuously analyse staff feedback to measure impact and inform our approach.

This analysis examines responses from 766 NHS staff across three acute hospital trusts who engaged with We Can Talk training between May and December 2025. All reported changes are statistically significant (p < 0.05).

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Impact of We Can Talk mental health training

Staff Confidence

Confidence supporting patients in mental health crisis (1-10 scale)

  • Pre-training: 5.15
  • Post-training: 7.47
  • Change: +45%
  • n=513 matched pairs

Confidence asking patients direct questions about risk or suicide (1-10 scale)

  • Pre-training: 4.84
  • Post-training: 7.64
  • Change: +58%
  • n=511 matched pairs

Average confidence increase: +51%

Staff Knowledge

Knowledge of practical ways to support patients attending hospital due to their mental health (1-10 scale)

  • Pre-training: 4.61
  • Post-training: 7.47
  • Change: +60%
  • n=516 matched pairs

Knowledge about why people attend hospital due to their mental health (1-10 scale)

  • Pre-training: 5.13
  • Post-training: 7.44
  • Change: +45%
  • n=523 matched pairs

Average knowledge increase: +52%

Attitudes Toward Role

Supporting patients in mental health distress is part of my job (1-10 scale)

  • Pre-training: 6.0
  • Post-training: 7.29
  • Change: +22%
  • n=505 matched pairs

For staff with lowest baseline scores (bottom 25%, n=129):

  • Pre-training: 1.62
  • Post-training: 4.80
  • Change: +196%

Emotional Preparedness

After completing this training, I feel more emotionally prepared to support patients in mental health distress (1-10 scale, post-training assessment)

  • Score: 7.62
  • 85% of staff scored 6 or higher
  • n=103

Training Satisfaction

Net Promoter Score: 45

  • 97% of staff would recommend training to colleagues
  • n=527

Industry comparison: Average NPS for mandatory e-learning is -29.

Current state of mental health care in acute settings

Patient Safety and Risk

1 in 4 acute hospital staff report being involved in the care of a patient who absconded while awaiting mental health support in the past four weeks (n=766).

1 in 4 acute hospital staff report calling security due to a patient in mental health distress in the past four weeks (n=765).

Staff Experience

1 in 13 acute hospital staff report missing work due to feeling emotionally exhausted or burnt out from supporting patients in mental health distress in the past four weeks (n=510).

1 in 3 staff are unsure their hospital provides safe care for patients in a mental health crisis (n=523, score 5 or below on 10-point scale).

Methodology

Study Design

  • Analysis period: May 1 – December 31, 2025
  • Sample: 766 NHS staff (sample sizes vary by question)
  • Method: Paired-sample t-tests comparing pre- and post-training responses where applicable
  • Significance threshold: p < 0.05
  • Analysis completed: January 11, 2026
  • Analysis software: Python 3.13.9

Data Quality

  • Zero duplicates identified
  • Users completing post-training within 30 minutes of pre-training excluded from matched-pair analysis (n=105)
  • Training times determined by first question (start) and final question (completion) timestamps
  • Patient safety and risk questions (absconsions, security calls) were asked at pre-training only and therefore did not exclude any users, resulting in higher sample sizes (n=765-766)
  • Other questions requiring matched-pair comparisons have smaller sample sizes (n=103-523)

Statistical Approach

All significance tests for pre-post comparisons use complete matched pairs (users with both pre and post data). All reported changes are statistically significant (p < 0.05).

Attitude Change Analysis

Users were segmented into three groups based on baseline responses: low (score 1-3), medium (score 4-6), and high (score 7-10). Analysis shows largest changes for low baseline group, moderate changes for medium group, and minimal or slight negative change for high group (ceiling effect).

Citation

How to cite this evidence:

We Can Talk (2026). We Can Talk Mental Health Training: Impact and Evidence – January 2026 Analysis. Retrieved from https://wecantalk.com/impactevidence/