Agenda item

In March 2016, Medway’s Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Health and Wellbeing Board reviewed and considered a Draft Service Model setting out the proposed delivery model for a Medway Young Person’s Wellbeing Service. This service is to be commissioned in place of the existing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). The new service will be commissioned on a Medway footprint and will be based on a revised service model reflecting a continuum of support for children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing and a clearer interface with early intervention services for emerging emotional health and wellbeing issues. The feedback from a 12 week consultation and engagement process and resultant revisions to the Draft Service Model will be reported back to Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 6 October 2016 and Medway Council Cabinet on 25 October 2016. The Health and Wellbeing Board is invited to comment on the proposals, prior to submission of these reports.

Discussion:

The Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning referred to the Board’s consideration of a Draft Service Model in March 2016 setting out the proposed delivery model for a Medway Young Person’s Wellbeing Service. The new service would replace the existing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and would be commissioned on a Medway footprint rather than Kent and Medway. She reported the key feedback and findings from a 12 week consultation and engagement process which revealed a high level of support for each of the core design principles. The report summarised the proposed key service changes and a series of further suggested refinements to the Draft Service Model in response to the consultation feedback.

The Assistant Director, Partnership Commissioning also reported that the annual refresh of the Medway Local Transformation Plan was due, in line with ongoing NHS England assurance requirements, and directed Board members to the Year 1 Delivery Plan Update appended to the report. This had been updated to reflect the significant progress that had been made. Feedback from NHS England on Medway’s original LTP submission in 2015 had been very positive. The Year 1 Delivery Plan Update reflected the substantial progress made against the key actions over the last 12 months. There was no prescribed format for the annual refresh of the plan which was required to be published on the CCG/Council website by 31 October 2016. Board members were invited to comment and/or seek clarification, prior to publication.

Members of the Board raised a number of issues which were responded to as follows:

·          The supportive feedback from the consultation was welcomed and it was now important to deliver the service model in a cost effective way.  The Board was advised that there had been proactive engagement with schools in the development of the new service model, including work to develop an agreed outcomes framework for services provided by schools to support pupils with emerging emotional health and wellbeing concerns. The new commissioned service would continue to provide primary mental health advice and support through established processes e.g. In School Reviews as well as informal advice on strategies and interventions to ensure pupils receive the right support at the right time.

·         It was suggested that embedding social workers within schools would help the early identification of issues which would enable timely, cost effective, intervention.  The Board was advised that plans to place social workers in the new pod structures were well advanced and it was expected that this would make a significant difference. 

·         It was recognised that many respondents to the consultation had highlighted the need to improve speed of access to support.  Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England investment had helped reduce waiting times, particularly between referral and assessment, and it was envisaged that the flexibility of the new Medway only service would lead to a further reduction in waiting times between referral, assessment and treatment.

·         With reference to the practical issues set out in the report that needed to be considered prior to going out to tender, the Board was assured that, in planning for the new service, a period for mobilisation had been built into the process.

·         In response to a question concerning the engagement of young people, it was reported that a Medway Young Persons Group had been formed, which included a representative of the Medway Youth Parliament. The next step would be to involve children and young people in the service evaluation process.  

·         The importance of seeking the views of service users was recognised and the Board was assured that consultation would continue as the new service progressed. One advantage of a Medway only model was that it could be more responsive to feedback.

Decision:

 The Board:

(a)        Noted the report and appended findings from the Children and Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing survey 2016 and made observations prior to the final service model being reported to Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Medway Council’s Cabinet. It was noted that detailed service specifications and tender documentation would be based on this model.

(b)       Noted the Year 1 Delivery Plan Update for the Medway Local Transformation Plan, prior to publication of the final version on the Council and Clinical Commissioning Group websites in October 2016.