Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.             Approves the Supported Living - Mental Health Recovery model of care and support.

2.             Notes that until creation of the FPS, an interim contract will be entered into with Making Space and Amethyst Care and Support Group Ltd to provide mental health recovery focussed supported living services. 

3.             Notes that in the future the supported living arrangements for people living with mental ill-health will be delivered through the Community Services – Mental Health Recovery Flexible Purchasing System.

Consideration was given to the report which sought approval for the Supported Living – Mental Health Recovery model of care and support. Cabinet was also asked to note the interim arrangements until the Community Services – Mental Health Recovery Flexible Purchasing System was established.

Mental health care and support was a statutory requirement for those people who were deemed eligible for support under the Care Act 2014.  A lot of emphasis was placed on residential care and non-specialist provision.  In October 2022, Cabinet approved a move to appoint suitable providers to community services using the flexible purchasing scheme.  This scheme would take at least 6 months to set up but there was an increase in demand for services.  For example, there had been a rise from 20 people to 30 people requiring support in December 2022.

A key part of the scheme was supported living, where support and care services were provided to help people live as independently as possible.  Supported living provided people with individual tenancies and support was provided where appropriate and assessed.  Supported living could be offered in a variety of ways and reduced the high cost of long-term residential care.  This had a very strong preventative focus and helped people to develop and maintain their independence.

The package would include Mental Health Recovery Services, which offered personalised care and increased choice and control along with independent living skills. 

Making Spaces was a charity providing community-based Health and Social Care Services to adults with primary care needs and mental health and/or learning disabilities.  They had a strong company ethos of promoting independence.    They approached the Council with a positive proposal which included their success in securing a loan, with an eighteen month timescale to spend the investment/funding.  Any financial risk involved with the proposal was theirs and not the Council’s.  There was no cost to the Council apart from the cost of providing care if the Council moved residents into that unit. 

Resolved: That Cabinet:

1.    Approved the Supported Living - Mental Health Recovery model of care and support.

2.    Noted that until creation of the FPS, an interim contract would be entered into with Making Space and Amethyst Care and Support Group Ltd to provide mental health recovery focussed supported living services.

3.    Noted that in the future the supported living arrangements for people living with mental ill-health would be delivered through the Community Services – Mental Health Recovery Flexible Purchasing System.