Supporting safer, faster, joined up mental health care for London
A new digital tool to support safer, faster and more joined up care for people detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA) is being introduced in London.
The MHA sets out a legal process that protects patients with mental health conditions who need to be detained and treated. This helps ensure they get the right treatment in a safe way.
Currently in most parts of London the process for assessing and treating people under the MHA relies on different staff from different organisations completing and sharing a number of paper-based forms. This can make the process complex, slow and errors can occur. This can have a negative effect on patients as it can lead to delays in care and poor patient outcomes.
Through the OneLondon eMHA programme a new digital tool is being introduced in six of the Capital’s Mental Health Trusts to support quicker and more joined-up assessment, treatment and discharge of Londoners detained under the MHA.
The vital role of health and care professionals involved in the assessment and treatment of patients is not changing. This programme is about modernising how these professionals record and share information as well as reducing delays, helping to ensure patients receive the right joined-up care safely and more quickly.
Where is the new system being introduced?
The OneLondon eMHA programme, backed by NHS England funding, is being introduced in six Mental Health Trusts in London during 2024/25:
The eMHA by Thalamos system was introduced at ELFT in November 2024. NELFT and SWLStG introduced it in late January 2025 and SLaM and Oxleas introduced it in late March 2025. NLFT are currently considering their plans for implementing the new system.
How will it work?
The OneLondon eMHA programme is using using the Thalamos software that was developed with extensive consultation with clinicians and People with Lived Experience, including patients and their relatives. It will work within a Mental Health Trust’s Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system.
Staff will complete the MHA documents from within their existing EPR system and can add their electronic signature. Corrections are easier than on the old paper forms and the system will automatically highlight sections that have not been completed or where errors might have been made.
Documents are securely shared between relevant organisations avoiding lost or inaccessible forms. Electronic notifications alert teams or individual members of staff of action they need to take helping to reduce delays in the process.
Health and care staff will also be able to see relevant MHA documents via the London Care Record regardless of which Trust created them, supporting more joined up care for people wherever they are in the Capital.
What will the benefits be?
While fully meeting all the MHA legal requirements the new eMHA by Thalamos system will support safer, faster and more joined up mental health care for Londoners. It will also be a quicker and more efficient system for staff and their organisations.
The technology has already been successfully introduced in a number of organisations including Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. In addition, East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) introduced an earlier version of this technology in 2022.
The eMHA by Thalamos system is a new digital tool to support safer, faster and more joined up care for people detained under the Mental Health Act (MHA).
Currently across London there is no single joined-up system for accessing MHA patient information. Also 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 errors can occur negatively effecting patients through delays in care.
The new eMHA by Thalamos system will enable 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.
The eMHA by Thalamos system was introduced at East London NHS Foundation Trust in November 2024. North East London NHS Foundation Trust and South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust introduced it in late January 2025. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust introduced it in late March 2025. North London NHS Foundation Trust are currently considering their plans for launching the new system.
Health and care staff such as doctors, nurses, Approved Mental Health Professionals and social workers involved in caring for the patient, as well as mental health legal teams, can view information held within the eMHA by Thalamos system.Â
Wider health and care staff such as GPs or staff working in Emergency Departments will be able to see summary information of the patient’s MHA status via the London Care Record in due course.
This will make it easier for different frontline staff to work together to best meet the needs of patients. Â
No. The eMHA by Thalamos system is available for frontline health and care staff to support them provide safer, faster and more joined-up care.
It joins up and shares information at the point of care so it is easier for different frontline staff to work together to best meet the needs of patients. Â
The key source of this information is the Electronic Patient Record system used by each Mental Health Trust. People can request to see information held about them within these systems by contacting the relevant hospital trust.
Yes. The Thalamos eMHA software meets the rigorous security standards required by the NHS and local authorities.
This includes being Cyber Essentials Plus Certified, Data Security and Protection Toolkit Standards Exceeded, DTAC Compliant and undergoes annual (as a minimum) Crest Approved Penetration Test.
In addition data held within Thalamos is encrypted at rest and in-transit and either Single Sign On or Multi-Factor Authentications is enabled further boosting its security.
It is essential that the new system meets the needs of both patients and health and care staff. That is why Thalamos (the eMHA system’s supplier) developed the system in consultation with a Design Group consisting of clinicians, Approved Mental Health Professionals, data protection experts and people with lived experience (ie patients and carer representatives).
This Design Group meets on an ongoing basis to review developments with the system and is supplemented by Quarterly Steering Groups where users, prospective users and those with lived experience continue to influence the system’s development.
In addition, each Trust implementing the eMHA by Thalamos system has held briefing sessions with their local service user and carer groups to introduce the new system and answer any questions.Â
OneLondon is in touch with the two Mental Health Trusts in north west London about their potential future involvement in the programme.
