Agenda item

Report to be delivered by Ian Renwick.

The Board were presented with an update on work to progress the implementation of  ‘Deciding Together, Delivering Together’ (DTDT) regarding the design of inpatient and community adult mental health services by Ian Renwick. Clarification was also provided on the scope of services encompassed by DTDT  in Gateshead.

It was highlighted from the report that in June 2016, the CCG governing body had considered findings of the Deciding Together process and its decision about the future of service stating: “While the decision will mean the closure of Gateshead’s standalone Tranwell Unit, as well as the Hadrian Clinic in Newcastle, it provides the opportunity to make significant changes that will create new interlinking community and hospital mental health services that will reduce the reliance on hospital stays, shorten the time people spend in hospital and overall improve their experience of services, helping them to recover sooner, stay well and have fulfilling lives.”

It was noted that following extensive desk top data analysis and preliminary stakeholder engagement earlier this year, four week-long design workshops were held in September /October and attended by more than 70 participants including service users and carers. It was also noted from the report that the workshops generated a comprehensive description of the Community Mental Health services to be created in Gateshead and Newcastle under the following headlines:

·         Getting help when you need it

·         Understanding need and planning support

·         Delivering support

·         Staying well

Ian Renwick advised the board that he wished to pass on his thanks to the team at Healthwatch for their involvement and support through a series of fringe events it organised during each of the four weeks the design workshops were taking place.

An overview of the proposed structure to ensure there are strong implementation arrangements in place was provided, to include a Steering Group, an inpatient/physical design group (anew sub-group of the Steering Group), the existing Finance and Resources group and a new Operational group.

It was noted that some of the earlier consultation that took place on Deciding Together  was undertaken when the scope did not include older people’s mental health services in Gateshead. It was said that the widened scope provides opportunities for Healthwatch to continue to contribute to the design of services and that there will be continued engagement with stakeholders until re-designed services are established.

A question was asked regarding the involvement of service users and carers as part of consultation arrangements. It was said that feedback from the community has been the driver of these proposed changes and that the point will be noted around continued service user and carer involvement.

A further question was asked around the closure of wards – it was stated that there needs to be a rebalance of resources across the system and that judgements will need to be made that best meet the needs of service users and their carers

It was noted that outputs from the Deciding Together Work will need to be broken down into three categories of delivery over the short, medium and long term::

·         Short term actions (by March 2018) – policies, processes, and anything immediate

·         Medium term actions (by March 2019) – relating to the way in which services operate and are configured

·         Long term actions – considering the elements of the new service that rely on larger scale changes being made (e.g. developing the physical Hubs).

RESOLVED:

i)              The Board noted the proposed implementation arrangements and agreed to receive quarterly updates on the proposals from within the report.