“The OneLondon eMHA programme will help us deliver the best possible care while also making life easier for staff.”

In our latest Meet Team One London feature we are delighted to introduce Lisa Moylan who is a Mental Health Law Officer at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. Lisa also has a critical role as one of the project managers leading on the implementation of the new eMHA digital tool at the Trust (17 December 2024).

Tell us about your working background?

I qualified as a mental health nurse many years ago (in 1992) and have worked in both inpatient and community services. In 2006 I did a secondment to our Trust IT department to work on the clinical implementation of our Electronic Patient Record (EPR). My role was leading on developing and implementing the Mental Health Act (MHA) functionality in the EPR. Through this project my love of mental health law was cemented!

Following the 2007 changes to the MHA I was appointed to manage the MH Law office at Oxleas. I have been here ever since, by far my longest time in a single role. I enjoy working with the MHA because I believe in ensuring that people who are deprived of their liberty are protected by the safeguards within the Act and they are aware of, and able to exercise their rights.

Back in the summer I was asked to be one of the project managers for the implementation of the new OneLondon eMHA programme at Oxleas. This is a great opportunity to combine my MH Law knowledge and my experience of implementing digital mental health systems. The programme offers so much potential to transform processes within the Trust, freeing up clinical staff from administrative tasks and giving them more time to care for the people who are using our services.

What does your work as eMHA PM involve?

It involves a bit of everything! For example I have been working with our communications team to develop information for staff, our partners and people who use our services and their carers. I have also been meeting with clinical teams to understand how they currently work with the MHA and what training they will need to use the new system. And I regularly liaise with our Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) and the Associate CCIOs to ensure that any potential clinical safety risk is considered, and mitigations are put in place.

Every day is different, and no day ever drags – something I’m really enjoying about this project.

We are lucky that we will be one of the last of six Trusts to go live with the new system. This means we are able to learn some lessons from other Trusts who have gone before us. So part of my job is also working closely with PMs in other Trusts so I can take on board their top tips for a successful go live.

Why is the eMHA programme so important?

As a mental health nurse, I have seen first hand the difficulties on a busy mental health ward when there is confusion over someone’s MHA status. This is especially the case out of hours when the MH Law office is unavailable and staff are unsure whether a patient remains detained under the Act or is free to leave the ward.

As a MH Law officer I have also seen (and experienced) how clunky the mainly paper-based system is and how we often have to chase lost pieces of paper or wait 2-3 days for information to arrive through the internal mail.

This has a negative impact on patients and staff. It causes delays in staff being able to make decisions around patient care and takes clinical staff away from patient facing time to complete paper forms and photocopy/scan/email information to other parts of the system.

Through the eMHA programme we have a real opportunity to change this and have processes in place the deliver the best possible care but also make life easier for staff.

What do you hope this programme will have achieved at Oxleas in a year’s time?

I hope that by this time next year at Oxleas we will have seen a reduction in the number of form corrections needed and delays as well as positive feedback from staff, service users and carers. And that we will have more information to plan our services at Oxleas even better.

I think we are well placed to effectively deliver the new system here at Oxleas thanks to the support of so many people across the Trust, partner organisations, OneLondon and others.

But this system is about joining up across London so everyone benefits. Now wouldn’t that be something!!

You can find out more about the OneLondon eMHA programme here.