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Mental Health Act (MHA) quick guide to submitting data

This guide was updated in October 2022. Author: Mental Health, NHS Talking Therapies and Learning Disability and Autism Analysis Team, NHS England

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Aim

NHS England is working to improve the recording and reporting of Mental Health Act data using the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS).

Mental Health Act (MHA) Statistics are published both in the Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics and in the Mental Health Act Statistics, Annual Figures publications. 

There are a large number of published measures and more information about the construction of individual measures is available within the respective publication’s metadata files and, as such, will not be recreated here.

MHSDS data items needed for these measures

This table lists all MHSDS fields and any expected values needed by NHS England to compile these measures (it does not include all the mandatory tables and data items needed to make a submission to the MHSDS). More information can be found in the MHSDS User Guidance and Technical Output Specification.

Table Field Notes
MHS101Referral ServDischDate Used to determine open referrals
MHS401MHA StartDateMHActLegalStatusClass Used to determine number of detentions
  StartTimeMHActLegalStatusClass Used to determine number of detentions
  EndDateMHActLegalStatusClass Used to determine number of detentions
  LegalStatusCode

Required for MHA analysis, complete list available within the Technical Output Specification.

For Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) the relevant suspended section should be recorded.

Please avoid, where possible, use of: 01 - Informal, 32 - Formally detained under other acts, 98 - Not applicable and 99 - Not Known.

MHS403ConditionalDischarge

The completion of the table itself is important in determining those still subject to detention so should be completed where appropriate.

 EndDateMHCondDisch Used to determine if patients are still subject to detention.

MHS404CommTreatOrder

The completion of this table is important in determining where someone is placed on a community treatment order. Each community treatment order should be recorded with the relevant suspended section type LegalStatusCode in MHS401MHA table.

 EndDateCommTreatOrd Used to determine if patients are still subject to detention.
  CommTreatOrdEndReason The reason for the termination of a period of a Community Treatment Order.

MHS405CommTreatOrderRecall

The completion of the table itself is important in determining those still subject to detention so should be completed where appropriate.

 StartDateCommTreatOrdRecall Used to determine if patients are still subject to detention.

 

 EndDateCommTreatOrdRecall Used to determine if patients are still subject to detention.
MHS501HospSpell StartDateHospProvSpell The start date of a Hospital Provider Spell.
  StartTimeHospProvSpell The start time of a Hospital Provider Spell.
  SourceAdmMHHospProvSpell The source of admission to a Hospital Provider Spell.
  MethAdmMHHospProvSpell The method of admission to a Hospital Provider Spell.
  DischDateHospProvSpell The discharge date from a Hospital Provider Spell.
  DestOfDischHospProvSpell The destination of a Patient on completion of a Hospital Provider Spell, or a note that the Patient died.

The statistics include additional breakdowns by demographics and, as such, the following fields are also required. Learn more about the data quality of protected characteristics and other vulnerable groups.

Table Field Notes
MHS001MasterPatientIndex PersonBirthDate Used for age breakdowns.
  Postcode Used for Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) breakdowns.
  GenderIDCode Used for gender breakdowns.
  Gender Used for gender breakdowns if GenderIDCode is not present.
  EthnicCategory Used for ethnicity breakdowns.

Furthermore, the following two tables need to be submitted in each submission with their respective mandatory and required fields. More information can be found in the MHSDS User Guidance and Technical Output Specification.

Table Description
MHS000Header Uniquely identifies each MHSDS submission made by the provider
MHS002GP Records details of the GP of every patient

Other important considerations

It is important that start/end dates/ times are recorded accurately and, where the start/end of a provider spell and detention occur at the same time, this is reflected in the time recorded; this will allow accurate measurement how long people are detained in hospital.

This is a quick guide produced to support data submitters in quickly understanding the tables and data items required for Mental Health Act (MHA) statistics and, as such, does not deal with the detail and complexities of MHA policy or reporting.

Last edited: 7 April 2025 11:25 am