Minutes:
The Board considered a report of the Strategic
Director, Communities, which provided Members with an update on mental health
related activity undertaken by the Council and NHS Halton Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG).
The Board was advised of activities in the
following areas:-
·
Award Winning Innovation – Haltons
Wellbeing Practice approach had gained national interest winning a National
Association of Primary Care (NAPC) award;
·
Mental Health in GP Practices – Training is being
provided to clinicians to enable them to manage mental health within their
practice;
·
Mental Health Wellbeing Nurse – Halton CCG
commissioned a Mental Health Wellbeing Nurse Team to work primarily with the
most vulnerable patients with complex issues;
·
Halton CCG Service Provision – Appendix 1 to the
report set out a summary of some of the service provision across the age
ranges;
·
New Governance Structure – A revised Governance
Structure has been established to ensure robust oversight of delivery of mental
health;
·
Dementia Friendly Communities – The Council and
Halton and the CCG have established a Halton Dementia Action Alliance (Halton
DAA) in October 2014;
·
Admiral Nurses for Dementia - The Halton Dementia
Partnership Board has recently met with the Chief Admiral Nurse in England (Oct
2014) to explore the potential for investment in the Admiral Nurse service in
Halton. Admiral Nurses provide families with the knowledge to understand the condition
and its effects, the skills and tools to improve communication, and provide
emotional and psychological support to help family carers
carry on caring for their family member. A Business Case for investment is
being developed;
·
In Patient Redesign Project – 5 Borough Partnership
Community Foundation Trust have developed a revised improved clinical model for
inpatient services;
·
Emotional Wellbeing Services for Children - NHS
Halton GCCG and Public Health in the Local Authority have worked together to
deliver a revised specification for a
Tier 2 level service to support young people with emerging emotional wellbeing
and lower level mental health issues.
The service is currently out to tender on The Chest and interviews for
bidders will be held on 6th February 2015;
·
System Resilience Funding - NHS Halton CCG have
secured £81k of additional funding from a recent bid for additional system
resilience funding for mental health specifically;
·
The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat - The Mental Health Crisis Care
Concordat was published by Central Government in late 2013. Locally, Halton had
been working closely with partners across the Cheshire footprint. A declaration
had been developed and agreed across the partners, and an action plan was in
development. Regular meetings were also taking place to monitor progress;
·
Operation Emblem/Street Triage - Operation Emblem had been piloted across
Halton and Warrington for 12 months and had been commissioned by NHS Halton and
Warrington CCGs. The pilot had been very
successful and reduced Section 136 by approximately 90% across the two
Boroughs;
·
Liaison Psychiatry Service - The extended Liaison
Psychiatry Service had been launched within Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust in August 2014;
·
IAPT – Halton Psychological Therapies Service - The Halton Psychological Therapies service
was now provided by 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and went live
on 1st August 2014;
·
Mental
Health Services Reviews - It has been highlighted that there may be a need to
review the service provided around mental health, and understand the current
pathways, and patient experience. A small task group had been established and
preliminary work had began;
·
Suicide
Prevention Strategy - The final draft
of the Suicide Prevention Strategy would shortly be presented for Board level
approval; and
·
Support 4 Change - In September 2014, additional funding from NHS England was successfully
sought/awarded to expand the Support 4 Change service to cover Halton and Warrington.
In November 2014 Warrington Borough Council and Halton Borough Council
commenced working together to provide the Support 4 Change service across
Halton and Warrington.
The Mental Health Champion,
Councillor Dennett reported that the first meeting of the Mental Health
Oversight Group had taken place today.
There were a lot of operational groups across the Borough dealing with
various aspects of mental health and managed by the CCG, the Council etc. The Mental Health Oversight Group, however
would be taking a strategic approach to mental health and looking had
considered Elderly Adults and Children’s Delivery Plans and some changes were
required and target dates and priorities had been given to the Operational
Groups so that work could commence as soon as possible. He reported that part of his role was to
promote promote mental health services and he would
be looking at how the funding is spent on
mental health services, challenging people to deliver their services
whilst at the same time supporting them to achieve a successful outcome. In addition, he reported that the Oversight
Group met quarterly and would report back to the Board periodically. It was reported that Healthwatch
would also be part of the Oversight Group. However, he indicated that there was a
considerable way to go in respect of mental health services.
Clarity was sought on how much
money was wasted on numerous providers undertaking memory tests and not
actually resolving the problem. In reply,
it was reported that an early diagnosis was vital and after a memory test and
blood tests, very often patients were left without a diagnosis, which meant
that they slipped through the gap and were not supported. However, it was reported, that these patients
would now be dealt with by the Memory Service and this would resolve this
problem. Gp’s,
it was reported are also better at recognising mental health problems and the
diagnosing rates had increased.
RESOLVED: That the report and comments raised be noted.
Supporting documents: