Single Point of Access (SPA) has been developed as a way of facilitating access to adult and older adult's community mental health services across South Staffordshire. Requests for assessments under the Mental Health Act 1983 are triaged and processed through SPA during working hours (09:00-17:00) Monday to Friday.

To explore the activity associated with these requests and to describe emerging trends.

Retrospective study of data regarding requests for assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983 in a SPA since its creation 2 years ago. Outcome of the request, outcome of the assessment, profession of the requester, and age and gender of the referred person has been collected.

343 requests were made since October 2005. 184 were male and 159 female. 264 were under 65 years of age. 92 were managed without the need to complete a formal assessment. From the 251 assessments carried out, 46 remained in the community, 41 were admitted informally and 164 were admitted under Section.

There appears to be little difference between gender and number of requests. Formal admissions appear to decrease since SPA has been in place. Trends will need to be explored against the introduction of the Mental Health Act 2007.