The recipients of the 2022 National Leadership Award for the United Kingdom are co-founders of Thalamos, Arden and Ross Tomison.

Mental health legislation is hardly a scintillating topic for most people. It is a vital part of protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in society, but until 2 years ago, it was entirely paper-based.  Two cousins realised, through the experience of friends, that mountains of paperwork were taking up precious time of hospital administrators, doctors, social workers, nurses, and police. This could be made digital, thought our award recipients. Not stored as a scanned image of paper documents, but as truly digital data. But there was a major obstacle.

Despite a governmental drive for digital, for everything from income tax to vehicle registrations, mental health legislation was precluded – the core of the Mental Health Act was drafted in the 1950s and specifically required paper.

Our award recipients have encountered wicked problem after wicked problem but with their unwavering grit and support from kindred spirit, a doctor who believed in their vision for change, their social enterprise was born.  Gutsy leadership, extensive cross-sector collaboration and high-end tech – and, most importantly, designing with and for real people – resulted a series of successes. These successes provided the momentum to show the UK government a level of efficiency, effectiveness, and safety sufficient to persuade them to change the Mental Health Act and allow digitising the MHA. That’s no mean feat.

Today they offer the only end-to-end Mental Health Act software solution. It joins up admission, treatment, hospital and discharge care pathways. Their digital pathways save time and money, reduce errors and better protect patient data. Most importantly, the time from patient interaction to data availability has fallen dramatically thus enhancing patient care, while encryption enhances patient confidentiality.  It’s ground-breaking stuff.

Ross and Arden have demonstrated the ability to problem-solve without preconceptions. They are very aware that their priorities may not always be their audience’s and draw upon disparate skills to bring focus to their work. Their ability to interpret the language of clinicians and the language of developers (each foreign to the other) and bring them together, is exemplary.  

In an age where digital innovation might be seen by some as putting people more and more at arms-length.  Our recipients  know that, in the field of mental health, the human touch can never and should never, be replaced. They know that digital innovations can be a partner for a human approach and help improve the quality of care.

Congratulations Ross, Arden and the team at Thalamos!