Agenda item

For the Board to review the ongoing delivery of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Local Transformation Plan and proposed next steps.

Members to receive an update on the Mental Health support for children and young people who have been granted, or are seeking, asylum in the Borough.

The Senior Strategic Commissioning Manager (SSCM), Birmingham and Solihull ICB presented the report.

Questions from the board were as follows:

·  Cllr S Gethen – The current pathway for crisis support isn’t working, are we going to see an improvement?

o  SSCM – We have created a new service designed by families called EMPOWER. The service will look at de-escalating an issue before it becomes a Mental Health Crisis and will aim to support people who present as heading towards a crisis. There will be a wrap around whilst they are waiting for their appointments to help with support in the space between. We currently see around 70% of contacts presenting as an early help case and not a crisis so this service will hopefully help.

·  Cllr A Wilson – Page 87 talks about people with a learning disability are eligible for an in-depth annual health check with their GP from age 14. How confident are we that with the state of waiting times for GP appointments at the moment that this is deliverable?

o  SSCM – We know that people with learning difficulties have a shorter life expectancy, so it is important that they attend these health checks. GPs are paid to undertake them so there is an incentive for GPs to be making sure they happen, and we also have the data on hand to be able to track if it is happening. We have had instances where we have partnered high and low performing practices so best practice can be shared.

·  Cllr A Wilson – How confident are we that GPs understand the nuances of how certain medication to treat conditions can impact different SEND conditions?

o  SSCM – That is a little too technical for me to answer but I know that we have clinical leads for SEND needs who will be across the latest research and guidance who GPs can contact.

·  Cllr A Wilson – Do we have any work that is ongoing to target boys as they seem to suffer disproportionately compares to the West Midlands and National Average?

o  SSCM – They present in different ways for example it may be a change in their behaviour so it is important we can have a targeted response to pick this change up and then deliver the support needed. We have Kooth which is positive as it can be accessed from home. We are also undertaking a school audit now to see what we can develop in terms of a localised response to this issue.

·  Cllr B Groom – Picking up on where it states “Among 17 to 22 year olds with a probable mental disorder, 14.8% reported living in a household that had experienced not being able to buy enough food or using a foodbank in the past year, compared with 2.1% of young people unlikely to have a mental disorder.” Thinking about how the NHS has just had to survive one crisis in the form of COVID-19, is it ready to deal with the cost-of-living crisis?

o  SSCM – We have seen unprecedented demand due to covid and we are focussing on clearing backlogs. We are also trying to link into the work that will be happening within family hubs to really try and respond early and in a more coordinated manner.

·  Kate Goode – Within this report there is some really useful quantitative data. Feedback from Parent Governors is that the wait time between first contact and then the second contact is too long. Is there any more data on the whole journey from first contact to discharge?

o  SSCM – We are looking at how we can address support in between the appointments so that things do not escalate into a mental health crisis.

·  Sajida Golby – It is great to see you have expanded support for people with SEND needs, can you expand on what it is?

o  SSCM – We are finding that digital offer really works well in this instance, we are also training our practitioners on how the deal with patients who present with a neurodiversity.

·  Cllr S Gethen – There is still an 18-week waiting list? What is support can people access in the interim?

o  SSCM – By the end of 2024 we will have MHST teams in across all secondary schools and colleges. The report sets outs on Page 59 the plan to cleanse data on the waiting list to ensure that everyone on it still needs an appointment and further to this we are also offering weekend clinics to tackle the backlog.

·  Cllr A Rebeiro - What would make Solihull more attractive to help recruitment?

o  SSCM – We offer a blended approach to remote and in person working which does help. It is important that our staff feel supported as we know that is a big sell when we recruit staff and we have started work with other local employers to stop the border hopping between staff.

RESOLVED

The Board received the report for information and assurance.