Agenda item

Carrol Crowe, Director of Strategy and Commissioning at Slough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) introduced a report on the Berkshire Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat Action Plan.

Partner organisations across Berkshire, including health trusts, the CCG, Police and the Council, had already signed a Crisis Care Concordat Declaration to demonstrate their commitment to act collaboratively to provide co-ordinated, comprehensive and robust mental health crisis services.  The Action Plan, circulated as Appendix A to the report, detailed the actions, timescales and outcomes for partners to implement the Concordat.  Members were asked to comment on the draft Action Plan before final approval, and the key points are summarised as follows:

• How would the Action Plan would be communicated and would it be made available in different languages?  It was responded that a ‘public-friendly’ version would be produced for partners websites and consideration would be given to translation on a local basis if required.
• What more could be done to ease pressure on staffing for mental health services?  Improved co-operation between service providers and greater efficiency could help to reduce staffing pressures.  Supporting people before they reached crisis point was recognised as being vital in reducing demand pressures and this was a focus of the Action Plan.
• What involvement was there from Police and Ambulance services to improve the experience of patients?  Both Thames Valley Police and South Central Ambulance Service were signatories to the Plan and specific actions were set out to improve emergency response and ensure patients in crisis situations were transferred by ambulance rather than the Police wherever possible.  The Panel particularly welcomed this approach.
• Further information was requested, and provided, on the business cases for investment by health sector partners on Parity of Esteem and to improve access to Liason Psychiatry Services at Wexham Park Hospital.  It was also noted that the CCG had increased investment in mental health services with an additional £2.9m in 2015/16.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Panel welcomed the objectives of the Action Plan and agreed to receive a further report in six months which detailed the progress that had been made on implementation.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Berkshire Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat Action Plan be noted.

(b)  That the Panel receive an update on the progress of the implementation of the Action Plan in circa 6 months.