Transformation of Mental Health Act care across London begins

Thalamos has launched its eMHA by Thalamos platform at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT), marking the first phase of a transformational rollout across six Mental Health Trusts in London.

This milestone will modernise how healthcare professionals in the capital support individuals detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA), providing swifter, simpler and safer care.

The introduction of eMHA by Thalamos at ELFT signals the start of a major digital shift that will reduce reliance on paper-based forms, improve information sharing, and minimise delays in care. The current process for managing MHA assessments often involves manual, paper-heavy systems, which can be prone to errors and hinder timely care delivery. By contrast, the eMHA by Thalamos system allows staff to securely complete and share statutory MHA forms digitally on any internet-connected device, enhancing both efficiency and accuracy.

“Thalamos was built with the needs of patients and clinicians at its heart,” said Thalamos CEO Arden Tomison. “We’re thrilled to support East London NHS Foundation Trust and their dedicated staff as they lead the way in modernising mental healthcare across London. The eMHA by Thalamos digital platform is about removing administrative barriers and reducing risk so that healthcare professionals can focus on what matters most: delivering high-quality care to those in need.”

The case for digitisation, Tomison believes, is clear. Some 36,000 nursing shifts in England could be created every year by eradicating manual scanning of documents within NHS mental health environments.

The OneLondon eMHA programme, back by NHS England funding, will see the eMHA by Thalamos platform rolled out across six Trusts by March 2025. This initiative has been shaped by input from clinicians, carers, and patient groups to ensure that the technology meets the complex needs of mental health care. The system has already demonstrated its value in other regions of the UK, with ELFT also having adopted an earlier iteration of the platform in 2020.

The OneLondon eMHA programme will create the opportunity the leverage previously inaccessible data-based insights that can influence wider system improvements at a time when reform to the Mental Health Act is moving through Parliament.

“Thalamos was built with the needs of patients and clinicians at its heart.”

Dr. Paul Gilluley, Chief Medical Officer at North East London ICB and Programme SRO for the OneLondon eMHA programme, commented: “It is great news that ELFT is now live with the new eMHA system that will support safer, faster and more joined up care for patients while also saving hard-working health and care professionals valuable time. This is testament to the hard work of so many people at ELFT and across the wider OneLondon programme. Lessons learned from ELFT will help inform our plans to roll out the new system in five other Trusts so even more Londoners benefit from the joined-up care it supports.”

Research carried out by other Thalamos customers demonstrates the transformational impact adopting the eMHA by Thalamos product can have.

Patient benefit 7 days → 15 hrs Thalamos has helped reduce access to treatment times from 7 days to 15 hours by connecting care professionals more effectively.

Clinical benefit ↓ 1-3 days Patients can be discharged 1-3 days sooner by health bodies using Thalamos, with estimated annual saving costs of £350,000-£1m depending on Trust size.

Compliance benefit 25% ↓ 1.6% At one paper-using site, there was an estimated 25% error rate. This has been significantly reduced to 1.6% since using Thalamos.

The six Mental Health Trusts introducing eMHA by Thalamos are:

• East London NHS Foundation Trust
• North East London NHS Foundation Trust
• North London NHS Foundation Trust
• Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
• South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
• South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust

For more information visit the OneLondon eMHA programme and the eMHA by Thalamos webpage.

This article originally appeared on thalamos.co.uk.