Mental Health Act reforms create opportunity to build on modern digital foundations

The UK government’s planned reforms to the Mental Health Act offer an opportunity to make patient-centred care a reality. With the goal of implementing statutory care and treatment plans for those experiencing mental health crises, these reforms aim to improve patient outcomes and reduce unnecessary detentions.

Thalamos supports these reforms, particularly the proposed use of safety management plans as a critical foundation for these changes. These plans could streamline emergency response and ensure that patient preferences and safety protocols are readily accessible to care providers when they are needed most.

Streamlining crisis response

Patient preference systems such as safety management plans are central to a mental health system that emphasises dignity, safety, and efficiency in crisis response. By allowing patients to document their treatment preferences, safety measures, and emergency contacts, this kind of approach provides a clear and actionable guide for healthcare providers and emergency responders. At Thalamos, we believe that digitised plans offer the best route to achieving the objectives of these reforms, enabling real-time access to patient information across different health and emergency services.

For example, if a patient with an existing digitised plan encounters a mental health crisis, their preferences – such as preferred medications, known triggers, or contact details for trusted individuals – are immediately accessible. This can prevent repeat detentions and ensure that patients are cared for according to their established safety and treatment preferences.

Read more – Research shows importance of digitised Advance Choice Documents

Reducing police and prison involvement

One of the reform’s key goals is to eliminate the use of police cells for individuals experiencing mental health crises. This is not only about improving patient outcomes but also about enabling police to focus on crime prevention and public safety. Digital plans play an essential role in this shift.

Thalamos software has already helped lower detentions following an initial police involvement by allowing for engagement with the NHS in the early stages of an incident and reduce the time taken for the Metropolitan Police Service to transfer patients into NHS care under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act, cutting the average police involvement in such incidents from 11 hours to six.

Transparent and real-time data

Real-time data can help address disparities in mental health care, particularly for vulnerable groups, such as individuals with learning disabilities or autism, who are at risk of inappropriate detentions. The reforms’ goal of reducing the power to detain such individuals under the Mental Health Act requires close monitoring to prevent individuals from being lost within the system. Real-time, anonymised data captured through a national digital infrastructure would ensure no one slips through the cracks.

Information gathered from national data sets can be used to track outcomes, identify systemic inequalities, and make evidence-based improvements. This level of transparency would allow policy makers to assess the impact of these reforms continually, making adjustments to improve care for all patients and hold services accountable.

Read more – Parliamentary roundtable discusses transforming mental health care with a digital-first approach

The importance of digitising

With the government’s intention to shorten detention times, increase the frequency of patient reviews, and streamline assessment processes, a digital-first approach is essential. Traditional paper processes are not equipped to handle the demands of a modern, responsive mental health care framework. By digitising review and assessment processes, care professionals can better handle administrative tasks, thereby ensuring that patients receive timely care and providers can focus on delivering high-quality support.

The proposed reforms will require more frequent reviews and assessments for individuals detained under certain sections of the Mental Health Act. These additional demands could overwhelm an already strained system if dependent on paper. Digitising can simplify and organise these processes, creating a system that is not only efficient but also able to uphold the timelines and increased review frequencies mandated by the reforms.

Our commitment to support

At Thalamos, we are dedicated to creating a digital-first mental health care system that aligns with the intended reforms. Through our work with NHS Trusts and organisations like the Metropolitan Police Service, we have seen how digitisation improves both the patient experience and system efficiency. Our data shows that digital processes save resources and time, allowing mental health services and police to operate more effectively.

Digitising has been shown to shorten administrative delays, reduce the need for repeated assessments, and allow for a faster transfer of patients to appropriate facilities. Additionally, a national dataset capturing anonymised information would serve as a valuable tool for ongoing policy refinement and enable a system of mental health care that is equitable and accountable across regions.

Ring-fenced funding to support reform

To fully realise the benefits of these reforms, we recommend that the government allocate ring-fenced funding specifically for digital infrastructure in mental health services. This funding is essential for scaling up commitments such as readily-accessible safety management plans and other critical digital pathways across the country, ensuring that rural and urban areas alike can access these transformative tools. Without this funding, there is a risk that certain areas or demographics will not benefit equally from these reforms, leading to disparities in care that are counterproductive to the objectives of the Mental Health Act.

Through these intended reforms, we envision a more responsive, equitable, and effective mental health care system in the UK – one that can be built on a modern digital foundation, providing patients with the support and respect they deserve.