The Board received a presentation from the Mental Health Programme Director, City and Hackney CCG outlining a report from the East London Health & Care Partnership setting out in full the pan-London business case for fewer, better quality health-based places of safety for people typically detained by the Police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. The Board noted that this matter has previously been presented to the Joint Health and Overview & Scrutiny Committee, who from a local perspective did not raise any strong objections.
Although the proposals will see the existing 20 dedicated sites across London reduced to 9 hubs, each will have improved capacity with more rooms and 24/7 staffing on site including for the North East London Region, Sunflower Court in the neighbouring Borough of Redbridge, for which additional funding has been secured.
Whilst issues were raised concerning the additional capacity and quality of care across London to support children and young people with mental health needs, overall the Board have welcomed the proposals and noted that the Chair intends to ask Councillor C. Rice in his role as the Council’s Mental Health Champion to take a view on the business case in the context of the Board’s Mental Health Strategy.