To consider a presentation from the Chief Operating Officer, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and invited Dr Simon Sandhu, Medical Director (Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust) to introduce the presentation.
The Medical Director firstly commented that Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust served a population of 1.3 million; providing mental health, learning disability and autism services to people across Greater Manchester while recognising the impact of the pandemic and the changes within the health and social care system.
More than 3,800 staff delivered care from 88 locations across the six Greater Manchester boroughs. However, since the pandemic there had been a significant reduction in staffing levels alongside increased pressures to deliver work.
The vision of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust was for a happier and more hopeful life for everyone in the Greater Manchester communities.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
It was reported by the Medical Director that the CAMHS programme aimed to expand mental health services for children and young people whilst achieving the ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Aims and objectives for CAMHS in the NHS Long Term Plan included:
· Expanding access to community-based mental health services to meet the needs of more children and young people;
· New approach to young adult mental health services for people aged 18-25 to support the transition to adulthood;
· Mental health support for children and young people would be embedded in schools and colleges;
· Tackling the causes of morbidity and preventable deaths in people with a learning disability and for autistic people;
· Improving NHS understanding of the needs of people with learning disabilities and autism, and working together to improve their health and wellbeing;
· Enabling more people to receive personalised care in the community and reducing preventable admissions to inpatient services;
· Expanding timely, age-appropriate crisis services to improve the experience of children and young people, and reducing A&E and paediatric wards pressures.
To achieve the aims and objectives it was highlighted that some NHS services required transformation - such as merging multiple teams into one to share learning and cover wider areas - that new programmes must be introduced, or that existing programmes required progression.
The Medical Director informed that there had been a significant increase in CAMHS referrals which had resulted in extended waiting times, with 82% of young people on the waiting list currently pending a neurodevelopment assessment or intervention. This had been further impacted following the decommissioning of neurodevelopment services in the North East.
Young people and children awaiting diagnosis would be signposted to local support and were provided with the contact details of CAMHS practitioners. In accordance with the triage process, young people that displayed the most challenging behaviours or symptoms would be prioritised on the waiting list.
In response to concerns that were raised by Members in relation to the waiting list statistics, it was noted by the Medical Director that the cause of increased CAMHS referrals could be due to increased awareness of diagnoses such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism, as well as earlier intervention being sought for children at school age.
Access to community based CAMHS support would be redesigned to support waiting list reduction, and evidence-based interventions for mild-to-moderate mental health issues would be delivered in schools and colleges.
Increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support would also enable more people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. Work would continue with partners to develop specialist community teams for children and young people, such as the Ealing Model which had evidenced that an intensive support approach could prevent children being admitted into institutional care.
The Medical Director further informed Members that support from multi-agency boards and joint work between Local Authorities and the Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector would be beneficial for CAMHS. Partnership Boards were being encouraged to engage in thinking that factors such as social interaction, environment, parenting and support could have an effect on managing conditions such as ADHD. It was hoped that through the removal of emphasis on receiving diagnoses, neurodevelopment conditions could be managed appropriately by meeting individual needs.
In relation to CAMHS staffing and continuity of care, the Medical Director reported that 60 agency staff had been recruited onto the bank system in December 2020. The Trust was keen to train and offer apprenticeships to people from local communities as they better reflected the demographic of the people using Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust services. International recruitment was also ongoing which offered experience in NHS care over a three year period.
Resolved:
That the
presentation be noted.
Supporting documents: