Finance Mapping 2011/12 - Mental Health Services FAQ
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Frequently asked Questions FAQs on Using and Emailing the Excel files
 

Frequently Asked Questions: Technical

 Question   Answer
Can I complete the Finance Map on line?   NO. YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THE EXCEL FILE FIRST - then complete it and save it. Do not try to enter the files directly from an email attachment.

 
I am new to all this. Are there any written Guidance Notes on the Finance Mapping?   Yes -  you will find the written Guidance Notes FMGuide for 2011/12 useful which can be downloaded from the main Finance Mapping webpage. Alternatively right click here to download the Guidance to your own PC.

 
My LIT name (or PCT Name) I want is not on the Drop down list- what do I do?   We have used the latest list available as supplied to us showing the LITs. However LIT names frequently change. The list of PCTs match the new organisation of PCTs announced by the Secretary of State on 12th April 2006 and any changes, including name changes, that we know of. The LIT may have been renamed, so check through the full drop down list - it may appear under its new name further down the List. Adding the following statement to your covering email accompanying the Excel file " THIS EXCEL FILE IS FOR xxxx LIT which is not on the drop down list, further emphasises the change. (substituting the additional LIT name in place of xxxx).

Also many NHS Commissioners now prefer to be known as "NHS.." rather than "...PCT". We have updated the Excel file drop down lists to reflect this and the changes are also shown in Appendix One of the Guidance Notes for 2011-12.

 
You have updated the Excel file -why and does it affect me?   The Excel files are regularly updated to reflect notified changes in LIT names, Trust names etc... This won't affect you if these changes aren't in your area and you can continue to use the earlier edition. If your organisation does change locally, this will be shown in the updated drop down boxes and it is obviously best to use the latest version if you can. This is not critical though as we also have a routine which automatically updates name changes when the figures are imported into our database.

 
I am a Trust but have more than 6 commissioners who commission services for one of my LITs   We have provided facilities for up to six commissioners per LIT per provider, which should cater for most trusts and PCTs.. This has the benefit of reducing the file size making for quicker sending and greater reliability of your emails as well as enabling you to see all of the sheets on a single screen. If you have more than 6 commissioners, simply complete all of the commissioner columns and send an extra Excel file containing details about the other commissioners.

 
Why aren't Acute Trusts shown in the drop down provider lists and should I include them? (New)   Acute Trusts do not normally provide mental health services. Neither are they shown on the List at http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/MentalHealthTrustListing.aspx.  Only if the acute trust physically directly provides working age adult or older people mental health services (OPMHS) should it be included within the finance mapping exercise. If you do have acute trusts delivering these services then please contact Tony Ingham at Mental Health Services via tony.ingham@mentalhealthstrategies.co.uk who will then update the Excel files accordingly.

 
How can I see the total mental health investment I have entered onto the Excel files?   The total figures are automatically summarised onto the COVER sheet within each Excel file. Simply select this sheet with your mouse.

 
What if there is no LIT Lead for my area? Where do I send my files back to?

 

   If you have a LIT Lead then, send your returns back via the LIT Lead as in previous years. If you are a NHS Trust serving three LITs, you would submit one return back to each LIT Lead.

If one of your areas, no longer has a LIT lead., then please return your files for LITs without a LIT Lead directly to Mental Health Strategies, together with an email  stating which of your LITs no longer has a LIT Lead. Send files back directly ONLY for those LITs without a LIT Lead.

 
I have less than 6 commissioners who commission services for my LIT. Should I attempt to delete unused commissioner columns?

 

   No. You should just leave any commissioner columns that are not needed empty.

 
Should investment commissioned by NHS Specialised Services Agencies be included and where should I record it?
  Yes it should otherwise the investment picture would be incomplete.

In effect, the Specialist Commissioning Agency is acting as a commissioner on behalf of the PCT and should therefore report its investment with such non statutory providers on a FM_NONSTAT return in the same way as PCTs and Local Authorities.

NHS Trusts who directly provide services should report investment commissioned by Specialist Commissioning Agencies on the DATA page of their FM-NHSLA return for the LIT using one of the available commissioner columns selecting “Specialised Services Agency” as the commissioner from the drop down boxes.

The only direct return required from the NHS Specialist Agency relates to the mental health investment commissioned from non statutory bodies such as private health care firms or the voluntary sector.  Specialised Services Agencies investment with non statutory providers should therefore be reported on a FM-NONSTAT return as would PCTs but showing the commissioner as "Specialised Services Agency" which can be selected from the commissioner drop down box. 

Arrangements may vary locally as to whether this is directly returned by the Specialist agencies themselves or returned by the PCTs using figures supplied by the Specialist Teams. The important thing is that such investment with both NHS Trusts and non statutory providers is recorded.


I cannot select some of the cells   This is normal. We have protected certain cells to ensure that people do not inadvertently alter the formulas.

 
The drop down box to select commissioners has disappeared. What can I do ?   excel undoDon't worry. You have accidentally deleted the cell and the cell now appears blank. To get it back, simply press the Excel Undo Button to get it back. Access this by clicking on the Edit menu at the top of your screen and click on the Undo Typing or Undo Clear option which will appear.

 
Can I submit the data in a different format?   No. The Finance Map must be submitted on the official Excel file using an Excel file version 2000 or later. Support has now been discontinued for Excel 97 /2000 since these are so old. and compatibility cannot be guaranteed

If you can only use Excel 97/2000 please contact Tony Ingham at Mental Health Strategies (tel 0161 785 1001 or email tony.ingham@mentalhealthstrategies.co.uk

 
Can't I use last years Excel file?   No. If you did, then unfortunately all of the LIT, Provider and Commissioner options would be out of date, (apart from the danger of sending last years data).The new 2011/12 Excel file uses the up to date lists, and is sorted differently.

 
Why are the download files not provided in the latest Excel 2007 or 2010 (.xlsx) format?

 

   Although the latest version of Excel is Excel 2010, many people are still using Excel 2003 or earlier and would probably be unable to open a file in the later format. Consequently we provide the Excel files in Excel 2003 format (.xls) to guarantee that people will be able to open them.

 
 I have Excel 2007 or Excel 2010, can I submit the files as an Excel 2007/10 instead? Yes no problem. The default file on the download page is in Excel 2003 (.xls) format since everybody would be able to open it. But if you have Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 (.xlsm), the saved file size will be smaller which is always good news,  but just make sure that you save it  in .xlsm format. 
I've tried opening the Excel files  but can't and get an "invalid picture" error message

What can I do ?
   This occurred with one individual a couple of years back. We could not recreate the error message on our computers using Excel 2003 or Excel 2007. Normally, when you open the files you get a "splash screen" which includes a picture. For some reason this could not be displayed on this particular PC although colleagues elsewhere in their office had no problem.

In the unlikely event of this problem occurring on your PC, then please contact Tony Ingham at Mental Health Strategies.
 
I'm using Excel 2007 and get a warning message about spreadsheet compatibility when I try to save the Excel files?

Why is this, and what should I do?

  There is no need to worry at all. There is no loss of functionality.  Just click CONTINUE to carry on saving the file.

The reason for it is that you are using Excel 2007 which has additional features over the default Excel 2003 format which both FM-NHSLA.xls and FM_NONSTAT.xls were saved in.

When you open the Excel 2003 format file in Excel 2007, and then try to save it, your  Excel 2007 recognises that you are trying to save it in an earlier version and throws up this message warning that you might lose some functionality – whether that functionality in Excel 2007 is used in the file or not. 

There is no loss of functionality in fact as far as this Excel file is concerned. Just click CONTINUE to carry on saving the file.

 
I have a number of files to send, and a slow email system - How can I speed up the email process ?   One way to speed up your email and to send a number of files at once is to submit them as a ZIP file. This combines multiple files in to a single ZIP file, compressing the size of the files to make them smaller. This will speed up the sending of your emails considerably (but please ensure that ALL of the Excel files you want to send are included within the ZIP file.) To compress the files you will need a suitable ZIP program installed such as Winzip, Pentazip, PKZIP etc... If in doubt ask your IT department.

 
I have emailed the files but you don't appear to have received them   There are a number of possible causes for this. The Excel files are fairly large and some email systems have a limit to the size of the attachments which they will accept. If you attach a lot of files to an individual email, you may exceed the technical limit of your email system. It may then "sit" on your system locally - apparently but not actually sent. Dependent on your email system and how it is set up, you might not be warned about it. On some email systems mail might be placed in the "outbox" but not sent without a specific instruction. One way of minimising the problem is to attach a ZIP file, rather than the individual Excel files themselves. Another way to check is to contact MHS to check that we have got them.

 
My email to the finmap email address has been returned. Is this email address still working?   The email address was tested prior to being posted on the website.

If it is returned as "undeliverable" please check that you have not mistyped the email address.