Developing a dashboard for surveillance of mental health admissions in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

Aim In addition to contributing to Objective 3 of the 2023─2030 National Mental Health Policy Framework and Strategic Plan regarding strengthening of research and surveillance, this paper aims to better inform resource allocation and assess capacity shortfalls by addressing Objectives 1 and 2 for building capacity and strengthening mental health services, utilising available electronic health records to develop a dashboard for monitoring mental health-related admissions in the Western Cape. Aimed at facility managers and mental health stakeholders, this dashboard facilitates contextual awareness of mental health-admission trends when identifying areas of need. Method The provincial health data centre collates electronic health records from public health facilities across the Western Cape, encompassing admissions to psychiatric wards, ICD-10 coded diagnoses, and medication dispensations. A daily updated dataset of all information relating to admissions to mental health wards is created from these sources. The admission-level data are enhanced to include metrics around inter-facility patient journeys such as length of stay, bed-occupancy rates, or re-admission rates. This dataset is visualised through a Microsoft PowerBI dashboard environment, enabling simple identification and observation of mental health admission trends by aggregating data for specialised population groups, geographical areas, and facility- or province-level metrics. Findings With admission data from 26 284 mental health-related admissions to 40 Western Cape hospitals during 2023, the dashboard allows for province-level surveillance, filterable to individual facilities. Additional pages display detailed metrics for specialist facilities, specific population groups, self-harm, and substance abuse. Conclusion The dashboard has received positive feedback from facility managers and features regularly in provincial health surveillance meetings. Intersectional collaboration with mental health service providers has been maintained to facilitate dashboard updates and expansions for areas of need. This tool has proved invaluable for monitoring and comparing facility performance and service utilisation over time, understanding interactions between mental health services, and most importantly, identifying areas of need. Additionally, the dashboard may serve as a tool to inform resource allocation to overburdened facilities.