eMHA by Thalamos

What is eMHA by Thalamos?

Our Partners at ELFT have been using Thalamos to complete Mental Health Act forms digitally since 2020. Thalamos has already brought significant benefits including time saved and reduction in errors for a select number of MHA forms:

  • AMHPs: applications for detention and Part 2 of CTO1s and CTO7s 
  • Approved Clinicians: T2s, H5s, CTO1s and CTO7s 
  • Inpatient doctors: H1s 
  • Nurses on our wards: applications for detention and H1s 

Due to the success of the solution, we will be transitioning over to a new and improved version of the platform renamed ‘eMHA by Thalamos’ in Q1 2025.  This new version will include all statutory MHA forms and will help your team to track the completion of MHA processes. It’s being implemented across London NHS Trusts as part of a pan-London NHS England programme, and NEFLT are second in line to go-live.  

Additional information:

For any questions or queries please email: Thalamos.emha@nelft.nhs.uk 

What using the new eMHA by Thalamos will mean for your professional group?

AMHPS

  • You will be able to complete all admission and Community Treatment Order forms through the eMHA system.
  • Additional workflows are supported, such as section 15 amends to allow corrections to be made easily and remotely.

Approved Clinicians

  • Through the eMHA system you can easily complete all forms electronically including admission, treatment, community treatment order and discharge forms.
  • You will be able to access the current MHA detention status for your patients to manage any upcoming MHA deadlines and actions such as renewals.
  • Data validation ensures information is correct first time. Section 15 amends can also be completed remotely if an amend is required

Ward Nurses (receiving officers)

  • Through the eMHA system you can easily complete, process and share all MHA forms including short-term holding powers, renewals and all other forms involving ward teams.
  • You will be able to access your wards dashboard which will show the current MHA detention status for patients on your ward.

Mental Health Act Administrators

  • Access to an overview of your Trust’s patients and their current MHA detention status will drive improved reporting, section expiry notifications and outstanding actions required from staff to help manage MHA deadlines.
  • Additional workflows are supported such as section 15 amends to allow corrections to be easily made. You can also easily access relevant patient history to support administrative processes such as gathering information for Tribunal Services, reducing administrative burden and streamlining MHA processes.
Additional resources:

eMHA by Thalamos training

Everyone will need to complete a short online eMHA training module in order to access the new version of Thalamos, even if you’re already using the current version of Thalamos. 

The training can now be accessed on STEPS.

Training links for external partners:

Training guides:

 

  

What will happen to paper forms?

Where possible, Thalamos should be used to complete MHA forms digitally in the first instance.

For users not yet trained on Thalamos and as additional digital MHA forms are added to Thalamos, paper MHA forms will remain available and can be used if it is considered to be in the best interests of the patient. 

These can be found in the Mental Health (MHA) Forms - section papers.

 

Metropolitan Police Thalamos 434 Form: Receiving patients on Section 136

Long term benefits

You can access MHA Forms from across your Integrated Care System and also view a summary MHA status for patients across London. This will provide relevant patient information so you can request more information about previous episodes of care to inform your assessment of the individual such as whether they should be admitted or for continuity of care or to be closer to their support system.

Mental Health (MHA) forms - section papers

Transfer under Section 19

Renewal of Detention  

Record of Reception England

Responsible clinician barring discharge by nearest relative

Treatment Certificates under Part IV

 Community Treatment Orders

Admission Forms

Additional guides for eMHA by Thalamos

System Admin Operational Guide can be accessed via the Thalamos website

  • This document gives overview of admin functionality, of how to add users, remove users, add to teams etc. with FAQs at the bottom
  • This will be helpful for Sercice Desk Teams, Clincial Systems Team and MHL Team members.  

MHL Team Operational Guide can be accessed via the Thalamos website 

  • One stop shop for all information on the system for MHL teams.

Additional help guides are available online or via the eMHA application

Important information for managers and staff involved in the use of the Mental Health Act

eMHA by Thalamos is a tool geared at digitising Mental Health Act processes. The EPR system (Rio) remains the primary record for the patient and should be consulted for an overview of a patient’s care alongside eMHA.

Background

  • Access to forms relating to Section 136 is not part of the scope of this phase.  Please follow current process should you require access to information regarding a patient’s detention under Section 136.
  • While we are moving towards a digital eMHA, as with all systems there may be a period of downtime. If access to eMHA by Thalamos is limited, please revert to paper forms until advised that access to the system has been restored.
  • Please ensure that you know how to access paper forms that can be used in event of a period of downtime. (Add Hyperlink to forms)

Completing tasks on eMHA

  • It is important to regularly check your account to keep on top of any outstanding tasks.
  • It is important to keep open channels of communication with the multidisciplinary team; eMHA does not replace the need to communicate with colleagues and external agencies.
  • Please refer to your Standard Operating Procedures for guidance on how to process forms through to completion.
  • Please check and verify all data entered into the platform prior to submission, especially if using copy & paste to include information from outside of eMHA

When downloading documents

  • If you download a document from eMHA please confirm that you have accessed the correct file, for the correct patient, and that it has downloaded successfully.

User profiles on eMHA

  • Access to eMHA by Thalamos will only be granted following the completion of the training. Managers are advised to ensure that their team members have adequate time available to successfully complete their required training.
  • Use of eMHA is the preferred method of completing MHA forms and processes, where those processes are supported by the platform. Line managers should ensure that staff requiring access to eMHA are identified, trained and using the platform where possible.
  • Please ensure that your professional registrations are kept up-to-date and valid on the eMHA system.

Multiple browser instances

  • As eMHA by Thalamos is a web-based application, users can access the solution from any supported browser. 
  • On launching eMHA, users should first check to make sure that eMHA is not already running in another window, to avoid the risk of entering information into an incorrect record.
  • If it is required to run multiple browser windows of eMHA at the same time, please take extra care to ensure that information is captured against the correct patient.
  • You can access the platform via any available network connection, you do not need to access it via the trusts VPN.
  • The system will timeout after 15 minutes of inactivity.

If you have any additional queries, please contact the Mental Health Act Office.