One year on: Transforming Mental Health Act care across London with eMHA by Thalamos

In May 2024, a landmark digital programme launched across London’s six Mental Health Trusts: the transformation of the Mental Health Act (MHA) pathway through the implementation of eMHA by Thalamos.

Now, as five Trusts are live and the sixth prepares for deployment, the OneLondon eMHA programme marks a major milestone in improving how MHA care is delivered, documented and coordinated across the capital.

The initiative comes at a pivotal time for mental health services. Reform of the Mental Health Act remains firmly on the national agenda, with widespread consensus on the need to reduce unnecessary detentions, improve patient choice, and address long-standing racial disparities in how the Act is applied. Meanwhile, NHS structures are evolving through the consolidation of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), while Mental Health Trusts and Local Authorities alike face significant operational and financial pressure. In this context, the OneLondon eMHA programme is a real-world example of how digital innovation can support more joined-up, patient-centred and equitable mental health care.

“This programme shows what can be achieved when healthcare and technology come together with shared purpose,” said Arden Tomison, CEO of Thalamos. “A year on, we’re proud to see eMHA by Thalamos in daily use across London, helping professionals deliver safer, faster care to people at a vulnerable point in their lives.”

A year of progress: key milestones

Each year, approximately 9,000 people are detained under the Mental Health Act in London. Until recently, most of this process relied on paper forms and manual communication, often resulting in delays, duplication, and avoidable risk.

Since the first Mental Health Trust went live in November 2024, digital deployments have steadily progressed:

• East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) – 20 November 2024
• South West London and St George’s (SWLSTG) – 27 January 2025
• North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) – 28 January 2025
• South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLAM) – 24 March 2025
• Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust – 25 March 2025
• North London Mental Health Partnership (NLFT) – Go-live date to be confirmed

Further reading:

OneLondon partnership brings eMHA to the capital

Transformation of Mental Health Act care across London begins

London Mental Health Trusts to share section status information for first time

Two more London Mental Health Trusts start using eMHA by Thalamos

Each deployment reflects extensive clinical engagement, cross-organisational planning, and user-centred design — made possible through a centralised OneLondon framework and delivery support from Thalamos.

“Each Trust brought unique insights, and the Pan-London structure allowed those lessons to be shared and scaled,” said Zoe Seager, Client Director at Thalamos. “From clinical safety to information governance, collaboration has been at the heart of every decision.”

Building a digital foundation

The OneLondon eMHA programme doesn’t just respond to today’s challenges. It lays critical groundwork for the future. The upcoming Mental Health Act reforms are expected to introduce wide-ranging changes including:

• A new statutory right to nominate a person involved in care decisions

• Clearer and more consistent use of Advance Choice Documents

• Greater scrutiny and safeguards around Community Treatment Orders (CTOs)

• A focus on racial equity, ensuring detentions are more proportionate and rights-based

• Stronger individualised care and planning

Further reading:

Research shows importance of digitised Advance Choice Documents

Mental Health Act reform: what’s changing, why it matters, and how to prepare

Let’s create mental health reform that matches outcome with desire

All of these will depend on the availability of accurate, accessible, and timely information about a person’s legal and clinical status — something eMHA by Thalamos is purpose-built to deliver.

To enable this, the programme has deployed a range of core and advanced product features:

• Single Sign-On (SSO): Seamless access for users, reducing login fatigue and enhancing security

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): A critical feature for safeguarding data access, especially for external partners such as independent s12 doctors and local authority staff

• Rio integration: Enables automatic population of patient demographic data, significantly reducing form errors and streamlining workflows

• Personal Demographics Service (PDS) integration: Ensures that clinicians can confidently match patients to the correct records using NHS Spine-approved services, particularly important in urgent or mobile settings

• MHA dashboarding tools: Give real-time visibility over patient caseloads, status updates and task completion — supporting safe handovers, better oversight, and audit readiness

• Custom MHA status engine: Tracks expiry dates and supports manual overrides in line with pan-London processes

• User administration controls: Allow Trusts to manage their own users in alignment with internal onboarding/off-boarding workflows

“Digitising the Mental Health Act pathway goes beyond technology — it’s about giving clinicians more time with patients, reducing delays, and improving outcomes,” said Arden Tomison. “This is a step change in how the system supports people in crisis.”

With real-time status tracking, secure document sharing, and integration with clinical systems like Rio and the NHS Personal Demographics Service, eMHA ensures that the right information is available at the point of care. This supports lawful, ethical, and efficient decision-making.

“The reforms aim to give patients more control, clarity and connection throughout their care,” added Zoe Seager. “eMHA by Thalamos gives professionals the tools to put that into practice.”

Collaboration and consistency at scale

By taking a Pan-London approach, the programme has shown how consistent digital infrastructure can support variation in local delivery while maintaining shared standards. This mirrors the aims of the Mental Health Act reform agenda, which calls for local ownership within a national framework.

Key components of the programme include:

• A Pan-London clinical safety group, enabling shared mitigation and faster rollout

• Model Information Governance and DPIA templates, aligned with legal duties

• Shared training resources, onboarding support, and clinical engagement strategies

• First-of-its-kind cross-Trust MHA data sharing, helping to reduce duplication and improve continuity of care

“One of the most powerful aspects of the programme has been the willingness of so many organisations to work together to solve long-standing challenges,” said Arden Tomison. “A Pan-London approach has meant we can move faster, avoid duplication, and build tools that work in the real world.”

Engaging partners across the care pathway

The programme has brought together over 25 local authorities and numerous independent Section 12-approved doctors, whose involvement is vital to timely, lawful MHA assessments. Supporting these partners has involved:

• Bespoke training materials

• Quick reference guides based on real-world feedback

• Local Authority engagement forums

• Improved onboarding processes for independent clinicians

“Working alongside Trusts, Local Authorities and independent professionals, we’ve seen just how much dedication there is to improving the Mental Health Act process,” said Zoe Seager. “Our role has been to listen, learn, and build technology that fits seamlessly into the way people work.”

Measuring adoption and preparing for scale

So far, the system has logged:

• 2,200+ unique users
• 50,000+ total logins
• 6,800+ MHA forms completed
• 3,100+ patients supported through digital pathways
• 1,700+ searches with Personal Demographics Service (PDS) enabled
• 18,000+ click throughs facilitated through integration with Rio EPR system

Adoption support continues through in-person site visits, virtual training, and digital help resources. Usage data and user feedback are actively informing the next phase of development.

What’s next?

As the NHS continues to prepare for the incoming Mental Health Act reforms, OneLondon and Thalamos are already looking ahead. Priorities include:

1. Securing deployment across all London Mental Health Trusts
2. Helping Trusts adapt to changes brought on by reform to the Mental Health Act
3. Improving workflows for Section 136 with accompanying dashboard to support reporting
4. Supporting CQC priorities around documentation, compliance and safety
5. Contributing to ICS-wide planning for reform implementation
6. Additional co-development of non-statutory forms
7. PDS and Rio patient demographics management uplifts
8. Integration with the London Care Record
9. ePMA integration to support prescribing
10. Support Advance Choice Documents usage to align with Mental Health Act reform

“We’re focused on making sure the technology continues to evolve with the needs of its users — whether that’s better integration with the ambulance service or improving the experience for AMHPs and s12 doctors,” said Zoe Seager. “This is just the beginning.”

A shared, digital future for MHA care

As the NHS works to realise the ambitions of the Mental Health Act reforms, including greater dignity, improved patient rights, and reduced inequalities, the OneLondon eMHA programme offers a model of how change can be delivered at pace, and at scale.

“This programme isn’t just about solving yesterday’s problems — it’s about building a modern, flexible system for tomorrow’s care,” said Arden Tomison. “That’s something every patient, professional and policymaker can get behind.”

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