Agenda item

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 6^th 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 1^st 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.