Mental Health Services Data Set
Collect details of children and adults in contact with mental health and wellbeing services to meet national reporting requirements.
About this standard
- Publisher
- NHS England
- Also known as
- MHSDS
- Reference code
- DAPB0011 Amd 37/2022
- Publication date
- 06/07/2023
- Publication version
- 6.0.0
- Status
- Active
Show definitions of statuses
Active. Active standards are stable, maintained and have been approved, assured or endorsed for use by qualified bodies.
Deprecated Deprecated standards are available for use and are maintained, but are being phased out, so new functionality will not be added.
Retired standards Retired standards are not being maintained or supported and should not be used.
- Standard type
- Collections
- Information standards
Show definitions of standard types
Collections. A Collection is a systematic gathering of a specified selection of data or information for a particular stated purpose from existing records held within health and care systems and electronic devices.
Extractions. An extraction is a type of collection that is pulled from an operational system by the data controller and transmitted to the receiver without additional processing or transcription by the sender.
Information standards. Information standards are agreed ways of doing something, written down as a set of precise criteria so they can be used as rules, guidelines, or definitions.
Technical Standards and specifications. Technical standards and specifications specify how to make information available technically including how the data is structured and transported.
- Collection level
Record level
- Contact point
- Please quote MHSDS in the subject line.
Link to standard
- Documentation
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- Applies to
- All organisations directly providing specialist secondary mental health services
- All organisations directly providing specialist secondary disability services
- All organisations directly providing specialist secondary autism services
- NHS Mental Health Trusts
- NHS Acute Trusts
- NHS Community Trusts
- Independent providers offering a service model for NHS/non-NHS funded patients
- Any qualified providers offering a service model for NHS/non-NHS funded patients
- Impacts on
- Implementation of this information standard impacts all health IT systems suppliers providing systems to the above providers; suppliers should work with their customers to determine necessary changes.
- Associated medias
- Conformance date
- 31/05/2024
- Effective from
- 01/04/2024
Topics and care settings
- Topic
- Data definitions and terminologies
- Reference data
- Care setting
- Community health
- Hospital
- Mental health
Dependencies and related standards
- Dependencies
No known dependencies.
- Related standards
- DAPB1069 Community Services Data Set (CSDS)
- Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS) DCB1513
- Assuring Transformation DAPB2007
- Accessible Information DAPB1605
- NHS Number ISB0149
- Health and Social Care Organisation Reference Data DAPB0090
- Sexual Orientation Monitoring DCB2094
- International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems SCCI0021 International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problems (ICD10) 5th Edition
- Overseas Visitor Charging Category DCB3017
- Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Data Set DAPB1520
- SNOMED CT SCCI0034
- Commissioning Data Sets (CDS) DAPB0092
- eMED3 (fit notes) in Secondary Care DAPB4011
- Informal Patients and Patients Detained under the Mental Health Act: The Number of Uses of the Act ISB 0154 (Retired)
- Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder Referral to Treatment Times SCCI2185 (Retired)
- Mental Health Community Teams Activity DCB3054m (Retired)
Review Information
- Scope
- Health Services, NHS Services, Adult Social Care.
- Sponsor
Shamin Rahman, Deputy Director, Mental Health and Disabilities Analysis Team (MHDAT), Department of Health and Social Care.
- Senior Responsible Officer
Claire Murdoch, National Mental Health Director, NHS England.
- Business Lead
- Cher Cartwright, Information Lead Manager, NHS England.
- Approval date
- 21/06/2023
- Post Implementation review Date
- 30/06/2025
Legal basis and endorsements
- Legal authority
Section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012
This information standard is published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
NHS standard contract
This collection is published under the NHS Standard Contract.
More information
The Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) is a patient level, output based, secondary uses data set which aims to deliver robust, comprehensive, nationally consistent and comparable person-based information for all patients who are in contact with Mental Health Services. It covers services located in England or located outside England but treating patients commissioned by an English Integrated Care Board (ICB) or NHS England specialised commissioner, or an NHS-led Provider Collaborative. As a secondary uses data set it re-uses clinical and operational data for purposes other than direct patient care, for example: commissioning, service improvement and service design. It defines the data items, definitions and associated value sets extracted or derived from local information systems.
Data relating to Access to Adult Psychological Therapies is excluded from this collection.
About this change
The proposed updates to MHSDS will ensure the collection remains up to date with current policy and continues to support the NHS Long Term Plan. The changes also focus on the following key areas:
- Reducing burden on providers wherever possible by identifying tables and data items for removal.
- Reducing burden through limiting duplication of data collection with other national data sets (such as with the Assuring Transformation (AT) standard, which has various similarities with MHSDS).
- Support for improved data completeness and quality through aligning the data set with evolving models for delivery of care:
- Making sure the data set contains the relevant codes to more accurately reflect service provision to support programmes such as Learning Disability and Autism
- Reflecting Delayed Transfers of Care data in line with the latest policy reviews
- Further development of the MHSDS model to make it easier to flow data, such as for the Restrictive Interventions table
- Corresponding to feedback from data submitters to address known issues or enhance existing items to ensure local data can be submitted accurately
- To allow the data set to respond to and support new national reporting requirements, eg. the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 recommendations.
Corrigendum 6 February, 2024
Since the publication of the current release of this standard, the need for minor corrections to the data set have been identified.
Note that an updated Technical Output Specification (TOS) has been issued and should be read in conjunction with this Corrigendum.
The following documents have also been updated to reflect the changes:
- NHS Data Model and Dictionary Change Request
- MHSDS V6.0.0 Change Specification
Page last updated: 18 June 2024