Agenda item

To consider a response to NHS Cambridgeshire’s consultation on the Redesign of Mental Health Services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

20 Minutes.

With the assistance of a report by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Panel was acquainted with details of a consultation exercise being undertaken by NHS Cambridgeshire on its plans to transform mental health services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The purpose of the consultation was to seek views on the proposals which were designed to improve access to the service and its responsiveness, ensure that all facilities were modernised and purpose built and to establish the delivery of more effective and efficient services.

Councillor R J West reported on the work of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which had been specifically established to respond to the consultation. The Panel’s attention was drawn to the Committee’s concerns about the absence of medical aims from the proposals, the travel and support arrangements available to patients and their visitors, changes to admission thresholds to mental health facilities and staffing levels on acute wards. The Committee was next due to meet on 19^th December 2011, when consideration would be given to a number of other matters which had been raised and its final response would be formulated.

Members of the Panel recalled their previous discussions on the proposals formally to relocate the current mental health facility in Acer Ward at Hinchingbrooke Hospital to Peterborough. The facility had been temporarily closed earlier on in the year and the Panel expressed concerns over the adverse impact that the formalisation of this decision would continue to have on patients and visitors. Councillor R J West commented that the Hinchingbrooke facility had been closed following an assessment by the National Clinical Advisory Team, which had concluded that the facility was not adequately staffed to cope with the level of patients admitted. He undertook to circulate to Panel Members details of a briefing note which had been prepared for the County Council’s Adults, Well-Being and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

In discussing the proposals further, the Panel formed the view that there was a risk associated with the Care in the Community approach proposed by NHS Cambridgeshire as it relied on patients taking medication. Members also questioned the adequacy of the transportation system to Peterborough for relatives and friends. The latter might, moreover, deter potential patients from self admitting themselves to hospital.

Having regard to the proposals to establish a new 24/7 Advice and Brief Intervention Centre, Members concluded that, given the absence of face to face contact with patients, the Centre could make flawed diagnoses. The view was further expressed that the Centre could act as a potential barrier to acute services for those in urgent need of care.

On the grounds of the conclusions reached, the Panel expressed strong views that the mental health services previously provided at Hinchingbrooke Hospital should not be permanently transferred to the Lucille Van Geest Centre in Peterborough. It was held that the proposals would continue to have an adverse impact on patients and visitors. Other matters that were discussed included modernising the facility at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, the ongoing trend for health services to be transferred from Huntingdonshire to Peterborough and Cambridge and whether Circle Healthcare had been consulted upon the proposals.

Having been informed of the experiences of Members’ friends and families who had utilised the mental health service and in noting the consultation period would close on 16^th January 2012, the Panel concurred with a suggestion that the views of service users should be sought prior to the next meeting. This would ensure that the Panel submitted a fully informed response to the consultation. In addition, the Panel requested a representative of NHS Cambridgeshire to be invited to the January 2012 meeting.