Year to Date Submission Model guidance for submitters

The Multiple Submission Window Model (MSWM) allows providers to retrospectively submit data for a specific reporting period once the initial performance submission window has closed.

The Multiple Submission Window Model should only be employed where:

• a new provider starts submitting data mid-year for the first time
• an issue was identified in a provider’s submission for that month that requires resubmission
• the resubmission of a particular month’s data has resulted in data associated with earlier or later months being impacted

From November 2023 (October 2023 data onwards), the Mental Health Services Data Set moved to a single window for reporting. Performance submissions and resubmissions have been redefined to reflect the move to a single window for reporting. For October 23 activity data onwards, performance data is taken the first month following the activity period (first window) for all measures except restrictive interventions. Resubmissions (or updates) are defined as data submitted in the second month or subsequent months following the activity period.

For reporting months prior to and including September 23, performance data is taken the second month following the activity period (second window). Resubmissions (or updates) are defined as data submitted in the third month or subsequent months following the activity period. More information on the move to a single submission window for reporting can be found at Changing the submission windows for the Mental Health Services Data.

NHS England use data submitted in-year to monitor performance so it is essential that providers submit the best quality data they can first time, rather than rely on resubmitting higher quality data later in the year.

Resubmission of data is optional, and we anticipate providers will use this process only in exceptional circumstances. There is no need to resubmit data unless the resubmitted data are considered to be of higher quality than the original submission or if the data being resubmitted has a knock-on effect on other data (for example, where a change to April’s submission impacts the May and June submissions, then all three months should be resubmitted).  Note, the change in MHSDS version may mean, in some cases, that providers cannot make a resubmission.

Each month of data must be submitted in a separate file; it will not be possible to submit a file containing data for more than a single month. The submission portal, SDCS Cloud, has been modified so that the month being submitted can be specified by the user.

When making a resubmission, a provider should include all the data relevant to that reporting period and not just specific records that have changed or additions to data previously submitted. As part of the MSWM submitters also have an obligation to submit subsequent months data that may be impacted depending on the data submitted and the reporting period. This means that providers should be aware of the additional burden on resources and processes that this may entail.

The MSWM only allows resubmission of data for months in the current financial year and MHSDS version.

Where the MHSDS version change occurs during a financial year, cut offs will apply to all data associated with that part of the financial year, thus the resubmission window will in effect be shorter than usual. For example, the MHSDS version change from v4.1 to v5 occurred in November 2021 (during the financial year). Once the performance submission window closed for May 2021, it was possible to make a resubmission for this month’s data up until the cut-off date in November 2021. After this date, no updates using either v4.1 or v5 could be made for the first half of the year.

As the window progresses the time allowed for resubmission also reduces. For example, January 2024 data can be resubmitted until May 2024, while March 2024 will have only one resubmission period after the standard Performance window.

These examples show the use of the Multiple Submission Window model and how a resubmission for a specific reporting period may also mean that further reporting periods need to be resubmitted.

The aim of providing this flexibility is so that new submitters can 'catch up' and existing submitters can improve their data quality, where required. Providers will however be expected to submit data of the best possible quality at the first attempt and to submit data within the two monthly windows following the month when the service was delivered.

The implications of this approach for the current publications are considered below in terms of the monthly, quarterly and annual publications.

Monthly publications for October 2023 activity onwards

From November 2023 (October 2023 data onwards), the Mental Health Services Data Set moved to a single window for reporting. There will no longer be a provisional cut of data, the performance cut of data will be taken the month following the activity period for all measures except restrictive interventions. As part of the transition to a single submission window for reporting, September 2023 and October 2023 activity data submitted during the November 2023 submission window was labelled Performance. The following publications are produced every month.

In January 2024 NHS England will publish:

Performance November 2023: based on data submitted in December (Performance)

In December 2023 NHS England published:

Performance October 2023: based on data submitted in November (Performance)

Performance September 2023: based on data submitted in October (Provisional) and November (Performance) 

Monthly publications for September 2023 activity and prior months

For reporting months prior to and including September 23 data, the Mental Health Services Monthly Statistics were published based on two rounds of submission: the Provisional cut (taken in the first window, the month after the activity period) and the Performance cut (taken in the second window, two months after the activity period). The following publications were produced every month.

In November 2023 NHS England published:

Performance August 2023: based on data submitted in September (Provisional) and October (Performance)

Provisional September 2023: based on data submitted in October (Provisional)

The Strategy that will be adopted

From November 2023 (October 2023 data onwards), the Provisional Report will no longer be produced. 

The Performance Report is produced using data submitted one month following submission for all measures except restrictive interventions. For restrictive interventions, the Performance Report is produced using data submitted two months following submission.

These reports will be classed as 'Experimental Statistics', containing all measures that would have been included previously and any new measures will be added to this publication in due course.

The Performance Reports will employ all relevant data available to NHS Digital at the time the reports are issued (up to the closure of the Performance Submission window). This takes advantage of the Multiple Submission Window Model (MSWM) as follows:

• if a provider has resubmitted historic data (resolving issues) or submitted historic data for the first time (catch up), this will be included in the calculation of measures that consider data over a period of time thus better reflecting the performance of the provider, an example measure that would be improved is MHS69 - The number of children and young people receiving at least two contacts
• prior to the MSWM, the measure would have been calculated using incorrect data or missing data if it had been submitted in error or not been submitted during the Performance window
• measures that reflect the performance of the provider during the Performance Window will continue to be produced as before, using only data submitted in the Performance window

Any data submitted post the creation of the Performance Reports will not be included in the calculation of measures until the Final Report, see below.

The notes and data quality documentation associated with these publications will include information relating to the MSWM, and the impact it may have had on the publication (at a high level).

On a monthly basis the Submission Report (also referred to as the MSWM tracker) shall be published, this will record the new submissions that have been made for that month post the creation of the Performance publication. For instance, if a provider had not submitted data by the time of the publication and now has or a provider has increased or decreased the volume of records for that month substantially, this will be stated. This will not result in an update to the performance publication.

In line with the Annual Bulletin or earlier; once all the submissions have been finalised, that is, post May of the following financial year, a Final Publication Report shall be created for each month. It is not proposed that the changes/impact from the Performance Publication are assessed, as this will have been documented through the MSWM Tracker described above. This new Final Report shall be added to the publication page for the relevant month.

The quarterly publication is currently published as part of the monthly publication and presents measures for inclusion in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View (FYFV) dashboard on a quarterly basis. Similarly, NHS Digital publish the quarterly perinatal publication as part of the monthly series.

The following strategy will be adopted for these publications:

• the quarterly publication will be produced using the proposed timeframe for the Monthly publication, including the quarterly measures where relevant
• this publication will continue to be classed as “Experimental Statistics”, containing all measures that would have been included previously, unless any changes are agreed with NHS England; any new measures will be added to this publication in due course
• the notes and data quality documentation associated with this publication will include information relating to the Multiple Submission Window Model (MSWM), and the impact it may have had on the publication
• for the monthly publications, the latest data available at the time of publication is created and shall be employed in the calculation of the measures
• quarterly publications will not be updated to reflect the new submissions that have been made for that quarter post the creation of the performance publication
• in line with the Annual Bulletin publication or earlier; once all the submissions have been finalised, that is, post May of the following financial year, a final version of the quarterly measures shall be produced - these shall be added to the publication page for the relevant month

As part of the MSWM Tracker a summary will be produced of the changes in the data submitted for each of the previous months post the production of the monthly performance publications. This will provide an indication of the potential changes that have occurred post the publication and allow users to determine the potential impact upon the publication that is available.

The annual publications (Mental Health Bulletin and Mental Health Act Annual Publication) will not require any significant changes.

As described above, the creation of Final Publications for each of the individual months in the last financial year (April to March) will be produced post the final submission window for the data for that financial year, in line with or earlier (as required) than the Annual Bulletin.

We produce a number of publications that use MHSDS, to varying degrees, that are not listed,  for example Out of Area Placements and Learning Disabilities. Each of these publications will contain appropriate information around the Multiple Submission Window Model and the potential impact on statistics.