When to submit

You can submit MHSDS data to SDCS Cloud continuously throughout the year and a cut of any data submitted by 11:59pm on the cut-off date of each month will be processed. Whilst you will be able to submit data throughout the year, you should aim to submit data during the performance window for it to be included in publication. 

From November 2023, the Mental Health Services Data Set moved to a single window for reporting. Going forward, the performance cut of data for all measures (except restrictive interventions) is taken in the first month following the activity period. For example, activity that occurred in November, should be submitted by the cut-off date in December to be included in the performance publication

For restrictive interventions, performance data can either be submitted in the first or second month following the activity period. Restrictive intervention data submitted in the first month will not be published until after the second month. If you submit during the second month window, you will need to resubmit all activity not just restrictive intervention data. 

Autism Waiting Times Statistics publication will continue to use the second month of data in reporting for the rest of 2023-24, however from 2024-25 will move to using the new performance data. DQMI will be updated to use the new performance data from October activity. For other publications that use MHSDS data the latest data will be used at the time of publication i.e. for Out of Area Placement publication and comparisons between CAP and MHSDS and for perinatal measures that link maternity and mental health data.

You can find cut-off dates for inclusion in publications on our data submission page.

Data must be submitted during the performance window to be included in the monthly publications. However, if you do miss a submission or there are data quality issues in your submission that need correcting, you can use the Multiple Submission Window Model (MSWM, or also sometimes called the Year to Date Submission Model) to resubmit data for any month in the current financial year. This data will be used in any measures that span reporting periods, for example, three-month or 12-month rolling measures, end of year statistics, and other publications.  

Using the MSWM is the same process as submitting any other month of data; you just need to select the correct month of activity from the reporting period dropdown menu on SDCS Cloud.

Submissions made after the performance window using MSWM are known as updates (or resubmissions).

The last good file submitted is used and will overwrite all previous successful submissions.

Monthly publications will not be refreshed with updates during the year. At the end of the year, the updates are used in the annual publication and in the production of the final monthly publications.

More information on submitting data retrospectively and how updates are handled in publications can be found at multiple submission window model for MHSDS and Year to Date Submission Model guidance for submitters.