Better Mental Health for All - Rotherham’s Strategy to promote the mental health and wellbeing of Rotherham people, 2017-2020 - Ruth Fletcher-Brown, Public Health Specialist, to present
Minutes:
Ruth Fletcher-Brown, Public Health Specialist, presented an annual update on the action detailed in 2 partnership action plans i.e. the Rotherham Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Action Plan for 2016/2018 and the Better Mental Health for all Action Plan 2017-2020.
Both actions plans evidenced the work that all partners were carrying out to promote the mental health of people living and working in Rotherham and the prevention of suicide.
Better Mental Health for All
The action plan drew upon the evidence of what worked promoting the mental health for the whole population, for individuals who were more at risk of developing mental health problems and for those living with a mental health problem.
The co-ordination of the action plan was through a local implementation group with partners of the Health and Wellbeing Board represented. The focus of the work was linking into community assets (strengths) and connecting people within their local community. The Strategy and action plan recognised the skills, knowledge and expertise of individuals and the assets that communities and organisations had to improve mental health and wellbeing.
10.8% of adults over the age of 18 years in Rotherham (2014/15) had depression, the average for England for the said period being 7.3%. For self-reported emotional wellbeing (2015/16) Rotherham residents reported high levels of low satisfaction with life, low happiness and high anxiety; these rates were higher than the average for England and for the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Key Actions:-
- Film and resources produced to support the Five Ways to Wellbeing campaign completed by April 2018
- Launch of the Five Ways to Wellbeing Campaign in May 2018
- Partner organisations signed up to roll out the different topic areas (Be Active, Connect, Give, Keep Learning and Take Notice) from the launch until October/November 2018
- Work now ongoing to ensure the Five Ways to Wellbeing principles were embedded in all partners’ commissioning processes and provider services
- A future focus of the Better Mental Health for All Group would be to look at actions to address loneliness in line with Aim 4 of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The proposal was to utilise the Five Ways to Wellbeing campaign as the public campaign to combat loneliness
- The action plan was being updated with a progress report to the November meeting
Rotherham Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Action Plan
The Plan had been written to recognise the role of all partners in addressing the complexity of preventing deaths from suicide.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Suicide and Self-Harm published an “Inquiry into Local Suicide Prevention Plans in England” January 2015. The APPG considered there were 3 main elements that were essential to the successful local implementation of the national strategy. All local authorities must have in place:-
1. Suicide audit work in order to understand local suicide risk
2. A suicide prevention plan in order to identify the initiatives required to address local suicide risk
3. A multi-agency suicide prevention group to involve all relevant statutory agencies and voluntary organisations in implementing the local plan
Key Actions:-
- Launch of the young people’s campaign STILL on World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2017 at Oakwood School
- All Rotherham schools received an updated Critical Incident Prompt sheet from Educational Psychology in May 2017
- 6 schools piloted a Whole School Approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing during 2016-17. This work had now been shared with other schools across the Borough
- Suicide prevention training provided in May 2017 by Public Health Specialist to Crossroads and Rotherham Alzheimer’s Society staff. In 2018 Youth Mental Health First aid training courses also provided to the Rotherham Parent Carers Forum and a second women’s group from BME communities
- During 2017 Wentworth Valley Area Assembly identified funding for suicide prevention work in the Maltby, Hellaby and Wickersley Wards
- 4 SafeTalk suicide prevention courses delivered in March 2017
- Bereavement pathway for children who had experienced a sudden and traumatic death revised in October 2017 and re-issued to all partners. The next revision was due in October 2018
- Rotherham Samaritans launched their bereavement support project in January 2017
- The action plan was currently being refreshed and would address issues highlighted through Rotherham’s real time surveillance work
- South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw had received NHS England funding for suicide prevention work for one year. The funding could not be used to support local plans in their entirety but could be used to support the national themes of:-
· Reducing suicide and self-harm in Mental Health Services
· Reducing self-harm in Community and Acute Services
· Suicide prevention in men and/or work with Primary Care
The Rotherham Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Group had submitted initial proposals for spending the funding in the Borough to NHSE. The proposals had been supported by the Rotherham Mental Health and Learning Disability Transformation Board and were in line with priorities within the Local Plan. Discussions were still taking place as to how the funding would be divided. It was hoped to know of the outcome by the end of September.
Discussion ensued on the report with the following issues raised/clarified:-
· The 6 schools who had piloted a Whole School Approach were all meeting on a regular basis and were taking the work forward. They had presented their approach to various school meetings resulting in additional schools expressing interest
· The Whole School approach had a really strong element of environment level and local level and would feature in the new SEMH Strategy
· The participating schools had given a presentation to Children Services’ Departmental meeting and looked at how it could be taken wider than schools. It had made a difference to the culture of those schools
· Rotherham CCG had bid for Trailblazer funding which would place Mental Health Workers within schools. It was hoped to hear if the bid had been successful sometime next month
· Excellent suicide prevention work had been carried out in the Wentworth Valley Area Assembly. It was now a matter of persuading individual Wards if they would fund similar work
· The refresh of the action plan gave an opportunity to establish which partners were still missing/not engaging with the work
· The Police were obviously involved in the crisis but intervention after the event to hopefully prevent a further attempt was really important
· All Healthwatch Rotherham staff had received Safe Talk training and suicide prevention training
Resolved:- (1) That the Lead Officers from their organisations continue to assist with the implementation of the Better Mental Health for All Action Plan and the Rotherham Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Action Plan.
(2) That the proposal for the Better Metal Health for All Group being the place to implement the section on loneliness within Aim 4 of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy be supported.
(3) That the revised Rotherham Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Action Plan be submitted in December 2018.
(4) That annual progress updates be submitted to the Board on both action plans.
(5) That updates on the NHSE funding for suicide prevention and how this was being implemented locally be submitted to the Board.
ACTION: Ruth Fletcher-Brown
Supporting documents: