Minutes:
The Board considered a report of
the Strategic Director, Communities, which gave Members an update and sought
their views on the potential developments within the Council’s social care provision for
adult mental health services.
The Board was advised that there were
currently two services provided by Halton Borough Council for residents with
complex mental health needs: the mental health social work service, based at
the Brooker Unit in Runcorn, and the Mental Health
Outreach Team, based in the Mental Health Resource Centre in Vine Street,
Widnes.
The Board was advised that the model of service delivery described in the report had
been in place for many years, and had achieved positive outcomes for many
people. However there had been a number of changes, both in terms of national
policy and local service delivery, which have meant that the ways in which the
services were delivered needed to be reconsidered. The changes included:-
The Board was further advised that within the social work service, the
recent development of the Acute Care Pathway within the 5Boroughs had meant
that the 5Boroughs now focused its work only on the people with the most
complex needs and levels of risk. As a result of this, the social work
caseloads had fallen, although other work, such as Mental Health Act
assessments, had increased considerably, in line with national patterns.
It was reported that there was now some capacity within the team to
develop a small service which works more directly with people who are known
only to primary care services and who had not been referred to specialist
hospital mental health services. One of the social workers already undertakes
some of this work, working with people who are referred by a range of agencies
who might be at risk without support, and a proposal was to be prepared to
extend this service, using existing resources. In addition, it was reported
that this approach would build on some ongoing work within the Mental Health
Outreach Team, and which would be the subject of a more detailed report to the
Board.
Furthermore, it was reported that there had been some effective work by
partner agencies to ensure that people with mental health needs were managed
within the correct care pathways, rather than being inappropriately engaged
with the police service. An exercise known as Operation Emblem had achieved
very positive results in reducing the numbers of people in Halton who had been
detained under Section 136 Mental Health act 1983. A more detailed report on this would be
presented to the Board at a future meeting.
In conclusion, it was reported that related to this, work was currently
taking place with Warrington Borough Council to extend a successful service in
that area into Halton. “Support 4 Change” which was a treatment based approach
which aimed to divert people from custody where appropriate, reduce risk of
re-offending, and improve emotional health and general wellbeing.
The following comments arose from the discussion:-
· It was noted that mental health illness could hinder individuals gaining employment. It was also noted that many people with a mental health illness undertook meaningful things in their lives, but it was not necessarily classed as employment;
· The Board noted the significant amount of work that had been undertaken in Halton in respect of people with learning difficulties gaining employment and operating their own business; and
· The Board noted that the Brooker Centre now had eleven social workers and some outreach workers and that except for emergencies, the bed service and out patient services was used for the residents of Halton;
RESOLVED: That the report and comments raised be noted.
Supporting documents: