Councillors and committees

Agenda item

EMOTIONAL WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH PRIORITY STATUS UPDATE

To update the board on the progress of the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy which is one of the five Surrey Health and Wellbeing Strategy priorities. It includes a summary of the level of progress and successes arising from the strategy implementation to date.

Minutes:

Charlotte Canniff arrived at the meeting at 13:35pm

 

 

Witnesses:

Diane Woods, Associate Director for Mental Health/Learning

Disabilities/Collaborative Commissions, North East Hants and Farnham CCG

Janine Sanderson, Mental Health Senior Commissioning Manager, North East Hants and Farnham CCG

Liz Uliasz, Deputy Director Adult Social Care, Surrey County Council

Jane Bremner, Senior Commissioning Manager, Surrey County Council

 

Key points raised during the discussion:

 

1.    The item was introduced by the Associate Director for Mental Health/Learning Disabilities/Collaborative Commissions who highlighted the achievements made against the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Priority. Details were also provided regarding the challenges that have been faced in relation to improving emotional wellbeing and mental health and informed members how organisations represented on the Board contribute to improving outcomes against key performance indicators for the priority. The Officers concluded by advising Members of future plans for the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Priority Status which included a primary care focus, integrated care approach and an accommodation pathway for people struggling with  mental health problems and substance misuse.

2.    The Board discussed potential changes in the commissioning of mental health services as a result of Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) which will require health and social care services to be commissioned with a more regional focus. Members stated that the benefits achieved by commissioning mental health services at a countywide level and the strides which have been made through the Mental Health Crisis Concordat  should not be lost as a result of potential changes to commissioning through the STPs.

3.     The Board highlighted the success that had been made in delivering the aims of the Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health priority as enshrined in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy and how it has shown sustained and continued improvement against performance indicators. Members drew attention to the progress that had been made through the Mental Health Crisis Concordat which had reduced the number of people detained in police custody under a section 136 order to under 3% from a high of 20% when the Health and Wellbeing Board was first established.

4.    The Board sought assurances that Surrey and Borders Partnership Trust (SABP) had taken steps to guard against the type of shortfalls which had contributed to serious failings at Southern Health.  Members were informed that SABP operated strict governance arrangements had been put in place to prevent such failings taking place in the delivery of mental health services in.  Actions plans had also been adopted and were reviewed regularly at quality assurance meetings.

5.    Healthwatch Surrey’s representative on the Board provided a detailed outline of how service users viewed mental health services in Surrey. Evidence from Healthwatch’s database indicated that there was a mixed reaction among consumers to mental health services with some elements of the service identified as being better than others. The Board was told that residents viewed mental health as a high priority with a particular concern in relation to the availability of services for young people. Members were advised that Healthwatch had identified seven key themes in the delivery of mental health services which should be considered by SABP.

6.    Members drew attention to the accessibility of mental health services for children and young people as the Board felt these could be promoted more widely to ensure that young people suffering from mental health problems are aware of what support they can receive.  The Board discussed the new Children and Adolescence Mental Health Service (CAHMS) was delivering improvements in the accessibility and availability of services and that the expectation is that these would become more pronounced as the new CAMHS became embedded throughout Surrey.    

 

Actions/further information to be provided:

 

None.

 

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.    It was agreed that the Health and Wellbeing Board note the progress achieved against delivery of the Surrey and NE Hants Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Strategy actions. The Board also agreed to support in identified challenges, namely that members of the Board ensured that mental health is embedded in their organisations strategic approaches.

 

Supporting documents: