Agenda item

[Fred Gravestock, Whole Systems Transformation Director, (Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)), to present report]

Sarah Fellows, Mental Health Commissioning Manager, Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group, presented the report on behalf of Fred Gravestock who was unable to attend the meeting.

The Mental Health Commissioning Manager explained that the organisation is required to refresh its Wolverhampton Children & Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Local Transformation Plan and present it to the Board for sign off. The Mental Health Commissioning Manager gave an overview of the vision in the plan to provide young people and children in Wolverhampton with access to timely, integrated and high quality mental health services that are accessible and responsive to their needs.

The Mental Health Commissioning Manager commented on the importance of delivering services that can respond to the growing need and increased demand upon the whole health service. The strategy is proposing to transform the delivery of the CAMHS service. The CCG is working with NHS England to deliver a more responsive service across Wolverhampton.

The Board were invited to comment on the plan. The Board made reference to other initiatives such as HeadStart which is aimed at improving the emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people and the link to the plan.

The panel requested an update on the Children’s Outcomes Framework (Appendix A) so that it covers the same period as the GANTT chart (Appendix F) so that the Board can reach a more informed view about the plans for the service. The Mental Health Commissioning Manager agreed to bring a refreshed GANTT chart to a future meeting of the Board.

The Board discussed the reference in the document to tier 1 and 2 and stated aim in the same document to implement a tier-less whole system across health, education and social care. The Board suggested that the document needs to be more consistent and the language used needs to reflect the clear focus on partnership working. The Board suggested an alternative description of the service is needed.

The Mental Health Commissioning Manager accepted the continued use of Tier 1 and Tier 2 was confusing and the issue had already been highlighted in discussions with colleagues. The situation is complicated by the funding process used by NHS England which uses these terms to describe the level of services available. The Mental Health Commissioning Manager agreed to discuss this further with colleagues and report the outcome to a future meeting of the Board. The Mental Health Commissioning Manager advised the Board that a submission for funding has been submitted to NHS England.

The Board queried how the plan will better meet the needs of adult black males who are over represented in terms of accessing mental services, but  much lower numbers are reported as accessing these services aimed at children and young people. The Mental Health Commissioning Manager accepted that there is an over representation of older male men in the service. This issue is a priority issue for the service and work is being with BCPFT to look at what the current provision is and how it is meeting the needs of black and minority groups. The review will also consider meeting the mental health needs of new arrivals to the City.

The Board queried the reference in the plan to the role of GPs and willingness to engage with other agencies in identifying young people who may need to be referred to appropiate wellbeing services.  The Board discussed the recent findings of Children’s Commissioner report detailing the poor experiences of users across England wanting to access mental health services.

The panel discussed the wider impact on the individual and society of not identifying and supporting young people, in particular vulnerable children, who need to be appropriately referred.

Resolved:

            The Board agreed to sign-off the refresh of the Wolverhampton Children & Young People's Mental Health and Wellbeing Local Transformation Plan.