Agenda and minutes

Members’ Seminar – Adults with Autism in England

The Chair reminded Members of the Panel that a Seminar had been arranged on Tuesday 10^th March, 2009 in relation to Adults with Autism in England.  It would take place in the Council Chamber at the Town hall commencing at 10.00 am and all members were invited to attend.

Victoria Farnsworth

The Chair announced that Victoria Farnsworth, a co-optee from Speak Up had recently given birth to her second daughter, Jessica Lily.  She suggested that the Panel’s congratulation be passed on to Vicky via the Scrutiny Officer.

No declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

There were no members of the public and press present.

Chris Stainforth, Director of Finance and Performance presented the submitted report which detailed the findings of the consultation on the proposed improvements to the mental health services provided by Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

The consultation ran for 3 months and finished on 9 December 2008.  The proposals centred around the consolidation of older people services on the Rotherham General Hospital site and adults of working age services at Swallownest.  Facilities would be radically improved for inpatients although the number of beds would be reduced.  Community provision would be expanded to be able to deliver a modern service model and enable may more patients to be cared for effectively in a home environment.

A comprehensive document which included responses from all the consultation methods was produced and had been made available for members view.  The document brought together the key themes and significant findings from the consultation and set out how they would be dealt with over the coming months.

The general view from the consultation was one of support for the changes, particularly improvements to inpatient accommodation and an expansion of community services for older adults.  However, concerns were expressed at the reduction in the number of beds and the ability of community services to cope wit the expected increasing number of elderly patients.  There were also many useful comments that would be taken into account as part of the design of the new facilities and the development of community services.

The consultation attempted to reach the widest number of patients, carers, staff and public and stakeholders as possible and details of these were contained within the comprehensive document.

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were discussed:-

• Whether there were adequate out of hours services available for out-patients and if so were they adequate.  It was confirmed that there was a 24 hour phone line for people in crisis and a liaison service with the ambulance service which were currently meeting response times.  However comments had been made during the consultation period, which were being addressed and it was hoped to make the service even better
• How to deal with a patient who refused to see their GP, but were obviously in crisis.  Advice could be offered, with the possibility of the GP being called to make an assessment without actually speaking to the patient.  If they were of the opinion that they were in need of help then they could be referred.
• Were referrals only made via GPs or was it possible for family and friends to make them on behalf a potential patient.  Confirmation was given that if it was an initial referral then it would need to come through a GP.
• Whether there was provision for adults with Autism Spectrum problems.  Work was being undertaken with Learning Disability colleagues to offer a joint service to adults with autism spectrum problems.
• Reference had been made to a review of day services being undertaken but to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 235.

Debbie Smith, Deputy Director of Operations presented the submitted report which updated members on the current progress and future plans for Mental Health First Aid Training in Rotherham.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is the help given to someone with a mental health problem prior to professional help being obtained.  The aims were:

• To preserve life where a person may be a danger to themselves or others
• To provide help to prevent mental health problems developing into more serious states
• To promote the good recovery of good mental health
• To provide comfort to a person experiencing a mental health problem
• To raise awareness of mental health issues in the community
• To reduce stigma and discrimination

MFHA did not teach people how to become therapists but it did teach them how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial help and how to guide a person towards appropriate professional help.  It was a 12 hour training programme taught by accredited MHFA Instructors.

It was hoped that MHFA training would contribute towards the delivery of local targets relating to adult health and well-being, social inclusion and promoting equality and the local economy.  It was also within NHS Rotherham’s 5 Year Strategic Plan as part of the Transformational Initiative on “Improving Mental Health Promotion”. 

Mental Health problems account for 5 out of 10 leading causes of disability worldwide and in they are the leading cause of Disability Adjusted Life Years, which is the number of health years of life lost.  One in six people in Rotherham of adult working age will have a common mental health problem (anxiety or depression) at any one time.

Mental health promotion, which included training such as MHFA could reduce the risk of some people developing a mental health problem, help people developing a mental health problem to access appropriate services quicker thereby improving the outcome and finally reducing the stigma of mental health problems.

NHS Rotherham recognised that good mental health was also a protective factor for physical health.  It improved the health outcomes and recovery rates for things like coronary heart disease, diabetes and stroke.  Poor mental health was associated with slow recovery rates for physical health problems, poor self-management conditions and health damaging behaviours.

MHFA was just one of the recommended actions within the Rotherham Mental Health Promotion Strategy.  Through the implementation of the strategy and programmes like MHFA the aim was:-

• Improvements in mental health literacy (people having a better knowledge about mental health/ill health and where to go for help)
• Early detection of mental health problems, with support and signposting, targeting employers, carers and frontline staff
• People with mental health problems having improved access to support from family, friends and colleagues
• People having a better understanding of how to look after their own mental health
• Reduced stigma and discrimination towards people with mental health problems.
• NHS Rotherham has subsidised all 20 courses, 9 will delivered by the end of March 2009 with a further 10 in 2009/10.

Since  ...  view the full minutes text for item 236.

Debbie Smith, Deputy Director of Operations presented the submitted report which updated members on the current progress and future plans for suicide prevention in Rotherham.

It was reported that there were around 20-25 suicides in Rotherham per year but compared with other similarly deprived boroughs Rotherham’s suicide rates were less than what would be expected.

A population level suicide audit was recommended by the Mental Health National Service Framework and the first was undertaken by NHS Rotherham for 2007/08, although RDASH did carry out reviews on suicides on patients under their care.

The aim of the audit was to ascertain any issues that primary care teams thought might have been relevant about individual suicides and see whether there were overall trends and learning points from individual cases.

Suicide prevention was much wider than the suicide audit although it was not the sole responsibility of one organisation.  Partners included Police, departments within the Local Authority, the Highways Agency, the voluntary sector and emergency services.  The National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England (2002) reflected this partnership approach and set out a programme of activity to reduce suicides which included:-

• Reducing the risk in high risk groups
• Promoting mental well-being in the wider population
• Reducing the availability and lethality of suicide methods
• Improving the reporting if suicidal behaviour in the media
• Promoting research on suicide and suicide prevention

Some of the above were being delivered at a national level.  However on the whole programme, NHS Rotherham had as part of its 5 year Strategic plan, a target on ‘Improving Mental Health Promotion’.  NHS Rotherham was implementing a mental health promotion strategy which would:-

• Promote the mental well-being of Rotherham through a settings approach, paying particular attention to vulnerable and at risk groups
• Raise public understanding of mental health and how they could look after their own mental health and that of others
• Involve organisations and communities to take positive steps to promote and protect mental health
• Combat discrimination against individuals with mental health problems and promote their social inclusion.

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were raised and discussed:-

• How many people who had attempted suicide, but not succeeded had taken up support offered?  And of those who had not taken up support what was the reason for refusal.
• How many people were re-attempting suicide, and what was being done to help them?
• Were there certain locations where suicides were more prevalent and if so were these locations being monitored?
• Was there any services being offered specifically to ex-service people with mental health problems?
• How well were the media being used to promote mental health in a less negative way?  It was confirmed that a dvd had been produced in relation to anti-stigma and there was a national campaign “Time for Change”.  The Health Promotion Department dealt with all areas of media work, and it was agreed that would be approached to discuss their promotion techniques.

Resolved:- That the content of the report be noted and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 237.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Services and Health Scrutiny Panel held on 12^th February, 2009.

Reference was made to minute 223 in relation to mentoring of co-optees.  It had been agreed previously that Elected Members would be paired up with individual co-optees for mentoring purposes but to date this had not happened.  It was confirmed that Delia Watts would be arranging this in the very near future.

Reference was made to an issue which had been discussed at the meeting on 8^th January, 2009 in relation non attendance of members of the Panel.  It was agreed that Delia Watts would contact these members and report to the Panel on the outcome of her discussions.

Reference was made to an issue which had been previously discussed in relation to co-optees providing information to the Panel on the work of their specific organisations.  It was agreed that the presentation which was to given to Elected Members on 10^th March 2009 would be presented to the Panel at a future meeting and all other co-optees be invited to speak at future meetings.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 12^th February, 2009 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health held on 9^th and 23^rd February, 2009.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health held on 9^th and 23^rd February, 2009 be received and noted.