Five Mental Health Trusts in London have now introduced the new OneLondon digital tool to support safer, quicker and more joined-up care for people detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) (27 March 2025).

In the last week both South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust (Oxleas) launched the new digital system.

The eMHA by Thalamos system modernises how Trust staff, local authority staff and Section 12 doctors access, record and share information. The system helps to reduce delays and makes it easier to work together with other health and care professionals to best meet the needs of patients.   

SLaM and Oxleas join East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT), North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLStG) in using the new system.

Since the new OneLondon system was launched in the first Trust in November last year it has been used a total of around 22,000 times by around 1,000 different health and care staff with more being trained and starting to use the new system each week.

While still early days staff are starting to report how the new system is easy to use, helps reduce errors and will be able to support faster and more joined up care for patients.

Dr Paul Gilluley, Chief Medical Officer at North East London ICB and OneLondon eMHA Programme SRO, said:

“It is great that five of London’s Mental Health Trusts are now using the new eMHA by Thalamos tool. I would like to thank everyone involved in making this happen. It is fantastic that we are starting to get some really positive feedback from frontline staff about how the new system will support faster and more joined-up care. With more Trusts and partner organisations now using the system even more patients are set to benefit over the coming weeks and months.”

Dr Abimbola Fadipe, Chief Medical Officer at Oxleas, said:

“We are delighted to have introduced the new eMHA by Thalamos system here at Oxleas this week. It will support us to work even more closely with our neighbouring trusts and other local partners to provide the very best care for the communities we serve. Whether faster and more joined-up patient care or staff needing to spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients we look forward to seeing a range of benefits realised over the weeks ahead.” 

Professor Elizabeth Sampson, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at Royal London Hospital for East London NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“The new eMHA by Thalamos system was introduced a few months ago and really makes it easier to complete and share patient forms. It has definitely led to fewer mistakes in documents such as an incorrect patient address. Previously we sometimes had to make corrections by hand and it took time to amend the paperwork. Now it is so much easier and quicker which helps ensure patients get the right care sooner.”

Tom Lelmezh, Mental Health Law Manager at SWLStG, said

“The Mental Health Law Office Team is incredibly pleased with the adoption of the eMHA by Thalamos platform. Even in its current hybrid implementation, we’ve already experienced significant improvements in efficiency and accuracy when processing MHA section papers. We’re particularly excited about the growing adoption among our colleagues, which promises to make the completion of section papers even smoother and virtually error-free in the near future.”

The current process for assessing and treating people detained under the MHA largely relies on staff completing and sharing paper-based forms. This can make the process slow and can delay the assessment and treatment of patients.

The new eMHA by Thalamos system enables relevant staff to access patient information and securely complete MHA statutory forms as well as digitally share them with all relevant staff within their Trust and partner organisations. This will support them to provide the right joined-up care safely and more quickly, while also saving them valuable time. 

The OneLondon eMHA programme is using software from healthcare technology business Thalamos that was developed in consultation with patients, carer groups and clinicians.

The eMHA by Thalamos system is being introduced in six of the Capital’s Mental Health Trusts. North London NHS Foundation Trust are currently finalising their plans for its introduction.

Find out more information about the OneLondon eMHA programme here.