New electronic system will support patient care during Mental Health Act assessments
A new system to improve how the Trust and its partners carry out assessments and treatment under the Mental Health Act will be rolled out early next year.
The system, eMHA, will mean that important information, such as statutory forms, will be completed and held on a specially designed electronic platform rather than on paper, meaning safer and more effective ways to ensure those patients who are most unwell are protected when they are at their most vulnerable.
Mental Health Act assessments are performed by specially trained clinicians, in collaboration with vital partners such as local authorities, to determine whether someone needs to be detained in hospital for a mental health condition. Legal procedures must be followed and documented, often involving multiple organisations. Currently, this relies on paper forms, which require manual writing, scanning, emailing, and hand delivery, making the process time-consuming and complex.
Now, alongside several other London mental health trusts, our organisation will be using an electronic system instead, which meets NHS security standards and has been developed in consultation with clinicians and people with Lived Experience of mental health conditions.
Dr. Sean Whyte, Deputy Medical Director at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, said:
“Using an electronic system, as we do for virtually all other documentation of patient care, allows us to support our patients much more effectively. Patients being assessed under the MHA will get the care they need with fewer delays, and more accurate information will be available to clinicians seeing patients away from their home area, which will sometimes mean they will not need to be detained in hospital.
“Moreover, the new system means a more accurate record of important information, and by saving clinicians’ time, will enable all of us to spend more time caring for patients.”
“Training on the new system will be provided in the coming months, with eMHA expected to go live in early 2025."
You can find out more information on the London-wide website for eMHA.
