Thalamos CQC
The Thalamos CQC portal supports Second Opinion Appointed Doctors in completing their Mental Health Act Assessments in a simple and efficient way.
Second Opinion Appointed Doctors provide a vital safeguarding role in preserving the rights of patients receiving care and treatment in hospital under the Mental Health Act.
SOAD assessments must be conducted in certain circumstances to ensure the treatment being recommended is legally defensible and the views and rights of the patient have been considered.
The independent nature of SOADs has historically created a series of administrative challenges, particularly around data management and data sharing. SOADs are independent and responsible for their own data security and governance. The data SOADs store is sensitive in nature.
As they are independent and work between all hospitals and the CQC, they do not all share a dedicated record system like a hospital.
Headline benefits
Everyone receives a copy of the SOAD Assessment on submission including the provider who requested it and the SOAD Services admin team.
More than 99% of mental health providers, public and private within the UK have received MHA documents via Thalamos.
The average length of time from examination by a SOAD date of request to the provider receiving a SOAD Assessment is now less than 15 hours illustrating a significant time saving compared the estimated seven days on paper previously.
Due to this time saving, patients are able to receive treatment far quicker.
Consistent, secure submission ensures providers always receive the SOAD Report Form and Certificate, including a ‘no certificate’ in instances where the outcome of the assessment did not generate a statutory form ensuring complete operational coverage of assessment outcomes.
SOAD forms are automatically sent to the Care Quality Commission upon submission, meaning the CQC will always have access to forms.
Bespoke workflow and validation on data input field increases accuracy and availability of data and minimises unwarranted variation in practice.
Scope
Scope
In creating the eMHA SOAD prototype, the Care Quality Commission were leading the way in the emerging field of Mental Health Act digitisation. Having completed the prototype, the onset of Covid-19 overtook the objectives of the pilot and the prototype was rapidly mobilised partly in response to emergency powers and the desire to maintain the SOAD service through the pandemic.
The pilot of Thalamos’ prototype through Covid demonstrated that:
- It was possible to utilise electronic signatures with the Mental Health Act
- SOADs were willing to engage with a digital solution and were able to complete the documents successfully.
- It was possible to securely communicate MHA Documentation to all Mental Health Providers without them needing a log-in/training
Based on the success of the pilot, a decision was taken to expand the software to provide a full service offering to both SOADs and the SOAD Operations Team.
Functionality
