Agenda item

To receive a presentation on the redesign of mental health services.

(Mr J Ellis, Head of Mental Health, Learning Disability and Substance Misuse Commissioning, NHS Cambridgeshire, Mrs C Hodgson, Mental Health and Commissioning Contract Manager, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and Dr D Irwin, GP Mental Health Lead for Hunts Care Partners will be in attendance for this item).

40 Minutes.

(Mr J Ellis, Commissioning and Contract Lead for Mental Health, Mrs C Hodgson, Mental Health Commissioning and Contract Manager, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group, Dr D Irwin, GP Mental Health Lead for Hunts Care Partnership, and Mr A Thomas, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, were in attendance for consideration of this item).

Pursuant to Minute No. 13/57, and with the aid of a presentation by Mr J Ellis,Commissioning and Contract Lead for Mental Health, the Panel received an update on local mental health services in Huntingdonshire following the redesign of services across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. As part of the presentation, Members were reminded of the objectives of the public consultation which had taken place in 2011/12, and received details of the adopted new service model. The Panel then received information on the Advice and Referral Centre which had been launched locally in May 2013. Finally, data on the number of patients in Huntingdonshire accessing mental health services was provided.

Having concluded the presentation, Mr Ellis proceeded to respond to questions, which had been raised by the Panel in advance of the meeting. With regard to the number of Huntingdonshire patients who were accessing acute services in Peterborough or Fulbourn in comparison to two years ago when Acer Ward was operational, it was stated that demand for acute services had remained the same, though there had been a notable increase in the number of times the Huntingdonshire Crisis Team was contacted.

On the question of the support and care services that were available to mental health patients who have been discharged into the community, Mr A Thomas, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, explained that overall there had been a decrease in the number of Hospital admissions and that attempts were made to utilise primary care mental health services wherever possible.

In response to the question on the Hospital’s transportation arrangements and the accessibility of acute wards, Mrs C Hodgson, Mental Health Commissioning and Contract Manager, explained that £15,000 had been invested into the Cambridgeshire Community Car Scheme. No negative comments had been received from service users to date and Mr Thomas advised that, since he had come into post in September 2013, the Trust had not received any complaints in this respect. In noting that regular contact with the service user group was maintained, Mrs Hodgson undertook to forward their details on to the Panel outside of the meeting.

Other matters that were discussed included the extent to which the Clinical Commissioning Group commissioned services from the voluntary sector. The Panel would be provided with details of the various voluntary organisations commissioned by the service. The functions performed by the Advice and Referral Centre included the transfer of patients to and from acute and community services. Members were then acquainted with the challenges faced by the service to meet growing levels of demand whilst being mindful of increasing budgetary pressures, the number of Huntingdonshire patients currently admitted to acute facilities, the types of referrals made by GPs to the Advice and Referral Centre and performance statistics for the Centre in its first few months of operation within Huntingdonshire.

At the conclusion of the Panel’s discussions, the Chairman thanked all those present for their attendance at the meeting. Mr Ellis indicated that he and his colleagues would be happy to return to provide a further update to Members at a future meeting.