Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations made.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 16 September 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Chairman informed the Committee that the Primary Care/GP Services workshop discussed at a previous meeting was being arranged.           

The six Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) recent decision not to merge, raised the issue of different commissioning practices again, particularly the hearing aids policy in North Staffordshire.  It was felt that this was part of a bigger issue of inequalities across the whole of the County and the way the CCGs worked together.  The CCG would be invited to attend the Committee.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

Councillor Mark Sutton, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People; Karen Coker, Senior Commissioning Manager; Natasha Moody, Strategic Commissioning Lead; and Sarah Newton, Commissioning and Development Officer attended the meeting to present the report and answer questions.  Unfortunately, a representative from the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) had not been able to attend.

The Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Transformation Board had set outs its intentions for a whole system and partnership approach to transformation, to align to the vision within the pan-Staffordshire Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Children and Young Peoples Strategy, via a Project Initiation Document and Project Plan.  The Strategy had been considered by the Select Committee in the past and had been endorsed by all parties, including all six CCG’s, Stoke on Trent City Council and the County Council.  The report provided an update on what had happened since then and informed Members that the Cabinet meeting on 18 December would be requested to authorise the new commissioning model.

The Plan consisted of 3 priorities; delivery of the strategy; improving pathways and whole system approach; and better access for those children and young people who require specialist intervention.

Information was also provided on the national mental health trailblazer (Wave one) which covered North Staffordshire and the Moorlands and included 31 schools (primary, secondary, colleges and alternative providers). Four Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) have been established, two in Stoke on Trent and two in North Staffordshire.  Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) would provide support with low level, early intervention mental wellbeing needs.  More recently, East Staffordshire had also been confirmed as a Trailblazer site in wave 2.  This would include up to 30 schools.

Following a question on why North and East Staffordshire had bid for trailblazer funding but not the central areas of Staffordshire such as Stafford, the members were informed that it had been the CCGs who had chosen the areas and bid for the funding and that other CCGs could bid in future rounds.

The Committee was informed that currently there were two services which provided support which included four Tier two contracts commissioned by the County Council valued at £301,016 per annum, and a bespoke jointly commissioned contract to deliver a service for Looked After Children (LAC) and care leavers, with an annual contract value of £584,259.  The contracts would come to an end on the 31 March 2020 and the funding from both the County Council and the CCG’s had been pooled to enable a new service to be jointly commissioned.  One lead provider would be in a better position to ensure consistence and a simple pathway into services.

The new service will have a robust performance framework.  The two trusts (MPFT and North Staffs Combined Healthcare) would want to capture the softer outcomes along with what they need to report on to DfE regarding the Trailblazer pilots.

The consultation process was outlined, the result of which had led to the remodelling of the service.  The 2020 Emotional Health and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Report of the Scrutiny and Support Manager

The Scrutiny and Support Manager presented the report which outlined the activity the Borough and District Councils since the last time it was reported.  The following updates were in conjunction with the report:

South Staffordshire District Council had cancelled their last meeting and had nothing to report.

Lichfield Borough Council had appointed a new Chairman.  There next meeting would look at the issues of Homelessness.

Newcastle Borough Council would meet on the 14 October to discuss CCTV and a call-in.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council reported that they had difficulty getting information form the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) over the proposed reduction in rapid response unit in Biddulph.  The Scrutiny and Support Manager offered his help in contacting WMAS to gain information.  The Committee was informed that the County Council held the Health Scrutiny Powers and that District and Boroughs could only ask the partners to attend meetings, but they were not obliged to attend.

RESOLVED: That the report be received.