NHS England removes two wellbeing measures from mental health data set

NHS England has removed two established mental wellbeing outcome measures from the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) following the introduction of charges for NHS providers to use them.

From the end of July, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) and Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) will no longer form part of the national mental health data set.

NHS England said the change is required because charges have recently been introduced for NHS providers using the measures. It said this conflicts with the principles of its copyright licensing service and undermines equal access to outcome measurement tools.

Following their removal, submissions of WEMWBS and SWEMWBS data to the MHSDS will no longer be accepted or processed.

Historic data already collected through the two measures will not be affected by the change.

WEMWBS is a 14-item scale designed to measure mental wellbeing, while SWEMWBS is a shorter seven-item version. The measures have been widely used to monitor mental wellbeing and evaluate programmes and interventions.

The MHSDS collects patient-level information about people receiving NHS-funded secondary mental health, learning disability and autism services in England. The data is used for purposes including commissioning, service improvement and service design.

NHS England has advised providers with questions about the change to contact england.mhinfrastructure@nhs.net.

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