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Mental Health Services: Out of Area Treatment

Asked by Sarah OlneyLiberal DemocratDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 27 January 2026UIN 105234

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data is collected on patients with complex trauma and personality disorder diagnoses who are placed into private out-of-area placements.

Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed

NHS England has advised that all providers of National Health Service-funded mental health services, including private providers, are required to submit the mandatory and required fields, where the service is provided, contained within the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) Technical Output Specification and follow the extensive guidance available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/mental-health-services-data-set/tools-and-guidance

The MHSDS is able to collect information about out of area placements and people that have had a diagnosis of complex trauma or personality disorder. However, the information requested is not centrally validated.

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