In the King’s Speech last week, the Labour government announced its commitment to modernising mental health services and giving it the same attention and focus as physical health services.
Specifically, introducing a new Mental Health Bill that will make services fit for the twenty-first century, so that patients have greater choice, autonomy, rights, and support.
While the devil is in the detail, the background briefing document published alongside the King’s Speech gives a strong indication of the legislative reform.
With the previous Mental Health Act dating back to 1983, many will agree this is long overdue
It predominantly focuses on improving the treatment of adults and young people with mental health issues and learning disabilities, especially those experiencing a crisis. It also includes strengthening the voice of patients and giving additional rights for them to be involved in the planning of their care.
With the previous Mental Health Act dating back to 1983, many will agree this is long overdue. And of course, over the last 40+ years, digital solutions have advanced significantly - meaning now is a prime opportunity to incorporate proven tools into policy changes.
Acting in a crisis
Acting swiftly and making informed decisions are critical when it comes to helping mental health patients, particularly during a crisis.
There are two important factors to do this effectively, which ensures the multiple agencies and care providers (which often include trusts, the police, social care, and the CQC) can respond appropriately. They need to be able to access a person’s medical history and crisis care plan regardless of the organisation and locality and complete and communicate the statutory Mental Health Act (MHA) forms.
Through existing digital partnerships, there are already examples of electronic patient records (EPRs) integrating with electronic MHA forms to create a seamless flow of information between those treating, and in most circumstances, detaining individuals.
By creating a unified, interoperable digital mental health crisis care pathway, response and treatment times can be significantly improved
Likewise, the National Record Locator is a great concept to give greater access to crisis care plans but will only be effective if it’s mandated so that all trusts upload their respective plans to the national repository.
By creating a unified, interoperable digital mental health crisis care pathway, response and treatment times can be significantly improved.
Those vulnerable individuals will also receive more appropriate care in a safe environment, which will improve clinical outcomes.
There is also more room for improvement with the initial set of plans in the Bill
As the proposed Bill sets out, police stations and prisons are not places of safety. Likewise, A&E is not best equipped to help those going through a crisis – their home or familiar surroundings are the best place for them, and digital can help agencies and providers make this happen safely and swiftly while still having access to the necessary care information.
These locally and regionally driven service improvements mustn't be overlooked during the reforms at a national level. Instead, they should be used as a benchmark for further advancements that can be expedited as part of the new legislation.
Missed opportunities
There is also more room for improvement with the initial set of plans in the Bill. Notably, referral to treatment times (RTT), which are up to two years for some community and mental health services.
In the government’s bid to modernise services, it must scale the adoption of digital solutions that create efficiencies in the system, remove administrative and manual tasks from clinical teams, and speed up RTT.
An obvious example is automating the GP referral process. The already overwhelmed primary care workforce is required to make a series of prerequisite checks before a referral for mental health services can be processed, which are often manual.
In the government’s bid to modernise services, it must scale the adoption of digital solutions that create efficiencies in the system
These checks can be made quickly and effectively by digitising this workflow and integrating the information with a
patient’s EPR. And could be managed by the administrative team.
Reducing the time for a referral and minimising misreferrals also helps reduce the risk of hospitalisation and/or detention of these patients, which will have a knock-on effect on their overall health outcomes.
This type of digitisation and integration is currently being developed by our customer, North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT), and could easily become a scalable framework for mental health and community trusts and ICBs across the country.
The government has also acknowledged that these changes will take several years to implement as more clinical and judicial staff will need to be trained
It also opens up the opportunity to integrate with other vital community services, such as social prescribing – creating a much more holistic digital pathway that becomes person- centred rather than system-driven.
Timeframes
The fact that the new government has prioritised improvements to mental health services must be commended. Particularly as there is a growing awareness of mental health needs, including more education in schools, which has helped it become much less of a taboo subject.
However, the government has also acknowledged that these changes will take several years to implement as more clinical and judicial staff will need to be trained. While this is understandable, it highlights why now more than ever, digital needs to be considered a short-term enabler to tangible improvements to services that put the patient at the centre of the decisions about their care.