Agenda item

Sharon Morrow, Chief Operating Officer, Barking and Dagenham CCG, presented the report and advised the Board on how the Mental Health Strategy 2016-18 had been developed including, stakeholder involvement, workshops, and an extensive consultation process, which had ended in November 2016, details of which were set out in the report.  The apparent consensus from the various engagements was that the Strategy concentrates on the right areas and that prevention was a welcome focus.  The four key priorities that had emerged had been:

·  Preventing ill health and promoting wellbeing

·  Housing and living well

·  Working well and accessing meaningful activities

·  Developing a new model of social support

The consultation process had highlighted that the Strategy did not explicitly address issues and risk factors affecting specific age groups, such as older people.  Therefore, during the developing process, the decision was taken to ensure the priorities and overarching principles were applicable to all adults.

As this was an evolving Strategy it would need to be reviewed and adapted to meet changes to the local health and social care economy landscape and the aims of the Council’s transformation programme and NHS Five Year Forward View via the Sustainability Transformation Plan. 

The Board’s attention was drawn to the Next Steps, set out in section 7 of the report, and the fact that the programme would further the findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) in addressing the mental health needs in LBBD and support the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. 

Cllr Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, drew attention to over 100 students at Barking College who had declared that they had a mental health issue and who were being supported within the college and how that needed to be referenced within the Strategy. 

Louise Hider, Principal Commissioning Manager, LBBD, explained how funding and remodelling of the employment services contracts were being looked at, together with supported accommodation provision.  Discussions were being held with developers, including Barking Riverside, and also with private landlords, which had resulted in a new six-bedroom supported accommodation provision.

Sarah Baker, Independent Chair of both the LBBD Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) and LBBD Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB), suggested that better links with the Safeguarding Boards could enable some good learning to be shared with partners.

Sarah Baker also commented on the Strategy not talking about social isolation and suggested this should be part of early intervention. 

The Chair advised that the Council had put in a bid to the National Lottery for Participation City, which if successful would provide around £8m to allow shop fronts to be used to set up hubs that would provide self-support and in turn would reduce individual’s isolation.

The Board:

(i)  Noted the contents of the report, the Mental Health Strategy 2016 – 2018, and agreed the next actions, which were to:

(a)  Deliver upon the Action Plan, which would be monitored and supported through the Mental Health Sub-Group;

(b)  Establish and enhance links with other strategies to support the principle of parity of esteem for mental health;

(c)  Continue to develop the Mental Health Strategy 2016 - 2018 to align with and support the implementation of the Growth Commission and Ambition 2020 along with the NHS Five Year Forward View for Mental Health; and

(d)  Complete the suicide audit and the development of a local suicide prevention plan, which was in line with Public Health England’s ongoing programme of work to support the government’s suicide prevention strategy, and to ensure the local suicide prevention plan was linked with the Mental Health Strategy 2016 – 2018; and

(e)  Work on the links with the local Safeguarding Boards, in order to benefit from their learning on appropriate issues.