Agenda and minutes

Councillor Ann Edgeller declared an interest as Staffordshire County Councils appointed partner Governor at the Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust (MPFT).

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 January 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Health and Care.

Councillor Julia Jessel and Jan Cartman-Frost, Senior Commissioning Manager presented the Mental Health and Mental Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2028. The Committee were informed the strategy had been jointly developed by the Council and the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and had been intended to be a simplified high-level strategy.

The Committee was informed that there had been a number of wide range focus groups and consultations involved in developing the strategy, national research and legislative changes had also been incorporated into the strategy.

The Committee noted the following comments and responses to questions:

·         The Health and Wellbeing Board were due to oversee delivery of the strategy and associated action plan.

·         A co-produced action plan is to be developed by end June 2023.

·         The ambition “Building strong and resilient communities and individuals who are in control of their own mental wellbeing” should also refer to physical health as the two were linked.

·         Wider issues which contribute to poor mental health were referred to in the strategy.

·         Signposting for support was not always clear and there should be signposts included in GPs and Libraries.

·         Use of voluntary sector would be included in the Action plan for services such as green space community projects to support the community to help themselves.

·         Some individuals were not able to help to help themselves and their mental wellbeing. GPs had started to employ Mental Health Practitioners within surgeries and Staffordshire had a wide range of support on offer. There was a role for Councillors as community champions. There were a number of different ways of accessing Mental Health services in Staffordshire which could create confusion and the action plan being produced should use the opportunity to create a linear process. 

·         The strategy was intended to involve workplaces to offer a workplace mental health offer to employees. Lone workers needed to be considered.

·         There was a Staffordshire Suicide Prevention Strategy.

·         The Committee requested to know which Primary Care Networks had taken the offer to have Mental Health Practitioners.

·         There needed to be a balance between Childrens Mental Health and prevention and Adults Mental Health, as Childrens Mental Health issues were likely to continue into Adulthood.
 

Resolved – That (a) the report be received.

(b) the Committee Considered and made comment on the proposed joint Mental Health & Mental Wellbeing Strategy: ‘Good Mental Health in Staffordshire’ 2023-28.

(c) the Committee be informed which Primary Care Networks had taken the offer to have Mental Health Practitioners.

Report of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB.

Councillor Paul Northcott, Becky Murphy Commissioning Officer, Health and Wellbeing, Nicola Bromage, Associate Director – Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism, Lyse Edwards, Sarbjit O’Brien & Deborah Hargreaves provided an update on Mental Health Support teams in Schools.

The Committee were advised that the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) approach was set out in a green paper – Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYPMH) provision, the NHS Long term plan published in January 2019 built on the green paper announcing than an extra 340,000 children and young people will receive mental health support by 2023/24. It was reported that the green paper set out three major proposals to transform children and young people’s mental health provision with a focus on improving mental health in education:

a)   incentivise all schools and colleges to identify and train senior mental health leads in education settings

b)   new MHSTs across education settings to provide early intervention and support the promotion of good mental health and wellbeing

c)   Pilot 4-week waiting times to access specialist NHS CYPMH services.

The Committee were informed of the current position, outcomes and challenges.

The Committee noted the following comments and responses to questions:

·         There was a review of special school provision currently taking place. Additional capacity and education placements in special settings may be required.

·         Mental Health Support Teams were currently only available in a limited number of schools. There was a multiyear selection planning process to secure further Mental Health Support Teams. The Mental Health Support Teams in schools were to provide early intervention and support the promotion of good mental health and wellbeing.

·         Best practice was shared with other schools which may be within the same academy trust, but outside the catchment for the Mental Health Support Teams.

·         The Council encouraged schools to engage with the support available to them via the Mental Health Support Teams and worked with the MHSTs where schools have disengaged.

·         Councillor Edgeller as Mental Health Champion was willing to attend the education network meetings and Headteachers forum to encourage schools to engage with the whole school approach.

·         Pupil Referral Units (PRU) were engaged with the approach. The PRU in Burton was engaged with the support and other PRUs in the County were due to engage as the offer was scaled up.

Resolved – That (a) the Committee noted the plan for expansion of Mental Health Support Teams by March 2024.

(b) the progress, outcomes achieved, and the challenges and barriers experienced be noted.

Presentation of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB.

Councillor Mark Sutton, Becky Murphy Commissioning Officer, Health and Wellbeing, Nicola Bromage, Associate Director – Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism, Lyse Edwards, Sarbjit O’Brien & Deborah Hargreaves presented the Childrens Mental Health Update.

The Committee were updated on the Mental Health Portfolio Structure and the Key Performance indicators. It was reported that there was now a Mental Health System Performance Dashboard and a snapshot of the latest CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services) data was shared with the Committee.

The Committee were informed the NHS long term plan commitments for Children & Young People and the refreshed Mental Health Local Transformation Plan 2022.

The Committee were advised that there had been an increase in the complexity and number of referrals. It was reported that the CYP access rates achieved 35% across the ICS. There had been a jointly commissioned emotional wellbeing service with both Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

It was reported that CYP Mental Health Services were moving to a Thrive Model and away from a tiered approach. The Thrive model was an integrated, person-centred and needs led approach to delivering mental health services for children and young people. It conceptualises five categories or needs-based groups: Thriving, Getting Advice, Getting Help, Getting More Help and Getting Risk Support.  A diagram showing the Thrive model was shared with the Committee. The digital offer from North Staffordshire and South Staffordshire was also shared with the Committee.

Becky Murphy Commissioning Officer, Health and Wellbeing highlighted that there were a number of things that the County Council were working on to support children and young people’s mental health such as support for mental health leads in schools and other educational settings via the Mental Health Leads in Education Network, the development of a PSHE Mental Health Professionals Pack and regular information, good practice and resources being promoted through the half-termly Kind Minds Newsletter. The local authority was also represented on the ICB CYP Mental Health System Improvement Board and the supporting Working Groups.

The Committee noted the following comments and responses to questions:

·         The performance indicator of Children and Young People with Eating Disorders seen within 1 week of a referral was lower for the MPFT than NSCHT. The data was presented as a percentage and could have represented a single child.

·         A delay may have been an example of a case which had required more than one professional and it was deemed beneficial to wait until all professionals were available.

·         Some of the data in the presentation required more narrative to guide Members on focus areas, some of the performance was difficult to interpret.

·         The Dashboard would be shared with the Committee on a quarterly basis.

·         The collection and analysis of outcomes data was being considered by one of the Working Groups which reported to the ICB CYP MH System Improvement Board. The Working Groups aim was to improve how outcomes are collected and measured across the partnership system and how the information was used to inform activity. Feedback on the data from today’s Scrutiny  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.