Harnessing data to better meet local needs

The scale of unmet need for mental health services is still not fully understood. The available prevalence data for mental ill health among adults in England is over a decade old. What’s more, the 2014 dataset of course predates the adverse impact that we know Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis have had on people’s mental health. It has also been recognised nationally that there is a need to improve access to, and the quality of, inpatient death data to support improvements in the quality and safety of these services. 

We need better mental health data collection, quality and flow to national datasets and better use of benchmarking. This is essential to ensure a greater and clearer understanding nationally and locally of mental health needs and improve patient pathways, including increasing understanding of outcomes and inequalities.  

Robust data on levels of local need would enable better commissioning and a more effective use of resources. Investment in the skills required to analyse and act on population-based and service-level trends is needed to better inform service design and delivery, as well as workforce planning and training requirements in all areas of the country. These skills are needed within the wider systems as well as in all mental health trusts. For example, we have heard that one place within an integrated care system (ICS) has developed a robust population health management infrastructure, which could be used for mental health population planning across the system. However, this is not currently possible due to a lack of analysts available in the system to deliver this in practice.  

The need for shared care records that include mental health services was also identified as a key area for focus. For example, not all ambulance trusts have access to their mental health trusts’ patient records, which makes it more difficult for ambulance staff to ensure patients receive timely care in the right place. 

To enable evidence-based, strategic commissioning and service delivery focused on the needs of local communities, we need to:   

Case study 

Health and social care organisations across Berkshire – spanning GP practices, six local authorities and four trusts – share patient records electronically through their Connected Care system.  Thousands of health and care professionals from across the organisations involved having immediate, secure access to the shared care records helps to speed up and improve decision making and deliver more co-ordinated services, helping to improve the effectiveness of services overall.