Agenda item

Report of Head of Democratic Services (Nottingham City Council)

Amanda Kemp, Deputy Director of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, presented the report of the Head of Democratic Services on the review of Adult Mental Health and mental health services for older people during 2014/15. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  monthly meetings are held with commissioners as well as regular meetings with service users and carers regarding service delivery; 

(b)   feedback on the Haven House crisis house located at Mapperley has been good. Services are now running 24/7, with consultant psychiatrists working over the weekend;

(c)  reinvested money has meant an increased number people being able to live independently within the community;

(d)  work with the Police and other agencies to better manage crises in the community are formalised within the Crisis Care Concordat;

(e)  mental health professionals working within the 111 service are helping to minimise patients with mental health issues presenting at A&E;

(f)  delayed discharge and housing related issues of mental health patients are challenging, however Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust and Nottingham University Hospitals are working together to share good practice;

(g)  all staff who formerly worked on the Daybrook and Bestwood Mental Health Services Older People (MHSOP) wards at the city campus have been redeployed;

(h)  since the transformation of MHSOP there has not been an increase in untoward incidents or patients length of stay and there has been a decrease in complaints; 

(i)   recruiting physiotherapists and occupational therapists into MHSOP is proving  challenging;

(j)  on occasions there have been issues relating to patient discharge from health into social care services:  

Following questions from Councillors, additional points were raised:

(k)  currently there is not a 24/7 mental health service available in the county; discussions are ongoing with commissioners regarding this matter;

(l)  all staff who previously worked at Enright Close have been redeployed to other areas.  There were no redundancies;

(m)  data relating to the engagement with hard to reach communities and ethnicity will be forwarded to Committee members following the meeting;

(n)  Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) can now travel in police cars when called to incidents involving citizens with mental health issues as the CPNs have access to patient history, leading to a reduction in admission to police cells. This service will continue to be monitored; currently there is only a further two years of funding available from commissioners;

(o)  statistics relating to patients frequently at risk of mental health issues are shared with commissioners and police colleagues;

(p)  if there is not sufficient mental health inpatient beds available locally beds are purchased outside of the county, to ensure patient safety. Where possible and safe, people will be treated at home, following consultation between patients, psychiatrists and carers;

(q)  nationally 75% of suicides are of individuals not known to mental health services. Inpatient suicide rates are very low;

(r)  all future presentations and reports to the Committee must not only focus on the positives of the service but also report back on areas of dissatisfaction;  

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the report and presentation;

(2)  recommend a 24/7 mental health service be commissioned in the County to ensure adequate mental health provision is available;

(3)  request that Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust provide Committee members with data relating to the engagement with hard to reach communities and ethnicity of patients accessing adult mental health and mental health services for older people;

(4)  recommend the inclusion of relevant ethnicity data in all future consultation exercises;

(5)  receive an update from Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust on the Review of Adult Mental Health and Mental Health Services for Older People Transformation in six months.