Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report presented by Nigel Parkes, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group, and Paul Theaker, Operational Commissioner, which detailed the draft Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy 2014-19 which had been developed to support Local Authority, Health Commissioners and service providers to improve the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people in Rotherham.

The final draft of the Strategy and associated action plan had been widely consulted upon. This had been approved through both the Rotherham MBC and Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (RCCG) governance processes and was attached to the report and detailed the key recommendations and actions to be taken forward.

The strategy included sections on the scope of the strategy, the needs of children and young people, services in Rotherham, investment, challenges and risks and recommendations.

The strategy was widely consulted on with a wide range of stakeholders in June and July 2014, including RMBC Children and Young People Services, schools, colleges, NHS providers and VCS providers. There have also been specific consultation sessions with parents/carers and with the Youth Cabinet.

The responses from consultation have been evaluated and the draft Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy was substantially amended to take into account the comments that have been made. In addition, the Rotherham Health Watch report on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHs) was reviewed to ensure that the key findings were addressed within the strategy.

The Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group commissioned Attain, an independent sector consultancy organisation, to review CAMHs and their report was considered by the Clinical Commissioning Group. The Attain recommendations that the Clinical Commissioning Group agreed to take forward have been included within the DStrategy.

The key recommendations outlined within the Strategy were as follows:-

Recommendation 1 - Ensure that services are developed which benefit from input by young people and parents/carers.

Recommendation 2 - Develop multi-agency care pathways which move service users appropriately through services towards recovery

Recommendation 3 - Develop family focussed services which are easily accessible and delivered in appropriate locations.

Recommendation 4 - Ensure that the services being delivered are effective, appropriate and represent the best value for money for the people of Rotherham.

Recommendation 5 - Ensure that the services being provided are delivered at the appropriate time as required and not restricted to normal operating hours.

Recommendation 6 - Ensure that services across all tiers of provision are delivered by appropriately trained staff and that training and support is provided to Universal/Tier 1 services to ensure that patients do not unnecessarily move to higher tiers of provision.

Recommendation 7 - Ensure well planned and supported transition from child and adolescent mental health services to adult services.

Recommendation 8 - Explore the option of a multi-agency single point of access to mental health services for children and young people to ensure that appropriate referral pathways are followed.

Recommendation 9 - Ensure that services are better able to demonstrate improved outcomes for children and young people accessing mental health services.

 Recommendation 10 - Promote the prevention of mental ill-health.

 Recommendation 11 - Reduce the stigma of mental illness.

Recommendation 12 - Ensure that patients do not face inappropriate delays in accessing services, across all tiers, for assessment and treatment which adversely affect their recovery.

It should be noted that as the governance process progresses for final approval of the Strategy, the key recommendations and actions were already being acted upon. The development of multi-agency care pathways was a priority piece of work and would address a number of issues in relation to thresholds/access to services and pathways such as post diagnosis ASD. A workshop with stakeholders had been held and was informing the work of small time-limited working groups that have been established for each multi-agency pathway.

The Strategy had been approved by the Cabinet Member for Children and Education Services and by the Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group Operational Executive and was to be submitted to the Health and Wellbeing Board for final joint Council/ Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group approval.

The Board appreciated the positive approach to the development of this Strategy and its links to the Mental Health Strategy and suggested that it be reviewed in March, 2015.

It was also suggested that as the Strategy began to evolve the baseline information and detailed outcomes be included so the direction of travel could be measured and closely monitored.  Waiting times were key and it was uncertain if the Strategy actually addressed this, what action was being taken to reduce waiting times and what were the aspirational targets.

The Board were informed that G.P. surveys had been undertaken which supported the development of the Strategy to assist with measuring waiting time for appointments and G.P. experiences, which had seen a reduction in waiting time down to eight weeks from fourteen/fifteen weeks and significant improvements in referrals for assessment from March, 2015.  This would continue to be reviewed on a six month basis.  In addition, the Recovery College was an alternative to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

The Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that a whole system approach had been adopted to develop capacity and meet demand.  A great deal of work had been undertaken with more to do to move forward and consider how best to use resources to meet the needs across all the tiers of support.

The impact measures contained with the report would take time to monitor and were seen as activities.  It was unrealistic at this stage to identify outcomes, but this would become more evident moving forward and would then give the assurances that the service was improving. 

Resolved:-  That the final draft of the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy 2014-19 be approved.