Agenda item

This report advises the Committee of a proposal under consideration by NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group and Medway Council to reconfigure and recommission Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) on a Medway population footprint. This will be part of the development of a wider continuum of support for children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing.  In the view of NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group this is a substantial service reconfiguration.

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning introduced the report which advised the Committee of a proposal under consideration by NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Medway Council to reconfigure and recommission CAMHS on a Medway population footprint.

Members then raised a number of points and questions which included: -

·           Resource – In response to a question about whether Medway had the resource to take on the project and deliver a Medway only CAMHS, officers explained that in terms of the development of the model, there was a commissioning lead working on the project and capacity would increase following some additional health investment in order to drive transformation forward.  In terms of the resource for service delivery, it was believed that the new defined service model, based on a Medway footprint, would be attractive to providers.  In addition, it was confirmed that current staff would have transfer of employment rights.

·           Healthwatch – The Healthwatch Medway CIC representative explained that Healthwatch had welcomed the Local Transformation Plan and the whole family approach (referred to at page 113 of the agenda) and expressed the importance of keeping families informed as the reconfiguration process develops.  Officers confirmed that Healthwatch Medway CIC were a key partner in the engagement process.

·           Services for looked after and adopted children – in response to a question about ensuring appropriate services are available for looked after children (LAC) and adopted children, officers explained that the reconfiguration provided the opportunity to ensure a more integrated service which would include various specialist aspects, including services for LAC and adopted children.

·           Pastoral care in schools – in response to a question about capacity of schools to provide pastoral care and the difference in levels of such support across schools, officers confirmed that Personal, Health and Social Education (PHSE) had a key role to play.   Public Health was working with a number of schools to provide young people with support on various issues, including self-harm, eating disorders and mental health awareness.  In addition, the intention to work more closely with schools to develop and commission a local early help offer was explained, which would enable a more effective and efficient framework to ensure the right support was available to the right children and young people.

·           SAFE Project – a question was raised about the continuation of this project, which worked with schools to promote healthy relationships based on equality and respect.  Officers confirmed that the project was not currently commissioned by Medway Council but that the Council was in dialogue with the provider to explore ways in which this work could be continued.

·           Learning from other areas – in response to a question about learning from other areas that had reconfigured the service in a similar way, officers explained that this was an initial aspect of the project and Solihull in particular had done some similar work to reconfigure the service.

·           Market testing – in response to a question about whether market testing had taken place; officers explained that market testing was fundamental and would be undertaken imminently with a number of providers already indicating their interest.

·           Impact on specialist services – in response to a concern raised about access to specialist services due to the reduced footprint, officers confirmed that improvements at intervention and prevention level would help to drive down demand on specialist services and that where it made sense to do so some specialist services could be delivered on a wider footprint.

·           Managing public expectation – a question was raised about managing public expectation and the role Ward Members could play in helping to support and inform constituents, along with the suggestion of a Member Briefing at the appropriate time.  Officers explained that Kent County Council and the seven Kent CCGs were also reconfiguring and re-procuring their own CAMHS and therefore timelines for Medway had been adapted to accommodate the Kent process to avoid interruptions for service users.  It was added that a mobilisation period of approximately 5-6 months was considered essential and therefore a possible date for the new service to go live was anticipated to be 1 September 2017.

Decisions:

1)     The Committee considered the proposed reconfiguration and recommissioning of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service to be a substantial health service variation.

2)     The Committee recommended the Draft Service Model to the Cabinet to agree for consultation.