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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber Council Offices Market Street Newbury

Contact: Jo Reeves / Jessica Bailiss 

Items
No. Item

76.

Declarations of Interest

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

During the course of the meeting Councillor James Fredrickson declared an interest in Agenda Item 3, but reported that, as his interest was a personal or an other registrable interest, but not a disclosable pecuniary interest, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.

77.

Mental Health pdf icon PDF 50 KB

For the Board to provide Richard Benyon MP with an update regarding the action plan for Mental Health in West Berkshire.

Minutes:

The Health and Wellbeing Board considered a presentation (Agenda Item 3) concerning an update on Mental Health from Rachael Wardell and Andrew Sharp on behalf of the Mental Health Action Group. Councillor James Fredrickson welcomed Richard Benyon MP to the Health and Wellbeing Board and advised that the purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of the work on Mental Health since he last attended on 30 March 2017.

Andrew Sharp began by tabling a diagram of the groups which held governance for mental health in West Berkshire. He advised that since March 2017, a Mental Health Action Group (MHAG) had been established and there was now greater clarity between how professionals, service users and voluntary sector groups linked with each other, with the Health and Wellbeing Board and with other strategic groups.

The aim of the MHAG replicated the aim articulated by Ali Foster as part of the Brighter Berkshire campaign: “To live in a community that is compassionate, that values good mental health, is without stigma and offers mental health support to those who need it when they need it.”

In terms of the data, West Berkshire was an outlier regarding premature deaths for people with serious mental illness so this would be a key priority for the MHAG’s attention. In addition a patient satisfaction survey had previously assessed ‘support during a crisis’ to be below average, however this had now been brought back up to average. The data had been used to inform the Health and Wellbeing Strategy aims in relation to mental health.

Areas for action had been identified by service users and in the main these corresponded to actions identified through the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.

There were a number of statutory and non-statutory services available to support people with their mental health. Andrew Sharp stated that non-statutory services needed continued support, whether this was financially or in kind, to keep operating. There was more work to be done to ensure that services were joined up.

A lot of good work was already ongoing. The Suicide Action Group had run a training event for employers and the Emotional Health Academy had improved waiting times for children who needed emotional health support.

A key element for the medium-term work programme of the MHAG would be around ensuring holistic support, with an emphasis on employment. This would be through increasing support in-work for those with mental health issues but also to support people to get back into work.

It was noted that in addition to the moral imperative to provide better support for people with poor mental health, there were also economic incentives. Poor mental health cost the country £99billion per year.

Councillor Fredrickson asked for more information regarding the Suicide Action Group’s work. Jaqui Letsome advised that 70 people had attended a training event on 11 October 2017, representing 60 employers form a range of businesses. Attendees were developing ways to implement their learning in their workplaces and it was hoped to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

78.

Community Conversations pdf icon PDF 60 KB

For the Board to provide Richard Benyon MP with information regarding the community conversations being held in West Berkshire.

Minutes:

The Health and Wellbeing Board considered a presentation (Agenda Item `4) concerning an update on community conversations. Susan Powell advised that the Board had set a strategic focus for 2017/18 to ‘increase the number of communities where community conversations had successfully run and local action plans had been jointly developed’.

The Building Communities Together Partnership and Team were leading on the work to start new community conversations and join in conversations where they were already happening. The aim was to nurture sustainable communities which made the most of their assets.

A recent community conversation was held with rough sleepers and was attended by 30 people. They had expressed concerns regarding mental health and the desire to have a hub where they could express their needs once. The benefits of the community conversation would be taken forward by the new Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) Coordinator, once in post.

The partnership had become aware that young peoples’ voices had not been present in many of the conversations and subsequently a workshop was held with peer mentors. Many of their concerns had been around anxiety, stress and social isolation; these were fed back to health and education services.

Susan Powell noted that the Board received an update at its previous meeting in September 2017 which set out a detailed update regarding the work of the Hungerford Multi-Professional lens. She reported that Suzanne Taylor, the community anchor, managed the meetings well to keep to the group’s aims, whilst ensuring all attendees contributed. There had been a meeting the previous Tuesday on the subject of mental health which had revealed concerns regarding the language used to describe mental health in the community and also revealed a wish to know more about the possible connections between sleep deprivation and attachment behaviours.

Overall community conversations sought to change peoples’ perspectives to consider how they could contribute or get involved in resolving issues within the community. Susan Powell advised that her experience with Neighbourhood Watch groups had been that coordinators were satisfied to take on a larger role but almost felt as though they needed permission.

In response to a question from Councillor Fredrickson, Susan Powell further explained the work in Hungerford, adding that by coming together in a forum, professionals working in the area had built capacity to provide better and more streamlined support. They had also empowered the community to build provision to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Councillor Fredrickson offered a reflection on his experiences at community conversations. He admitted that before he had attended one he would assume that it would be another event with talk but no action, however he felt it was a form of community engagement which removed bureaucratic consultation processes and involved the community in problem solving. He encouraged all Board members to attend a community conversation.

Jim Weems added that he had found community conversations to be a modern and vibrant way of working. He thanked Susan Powell and her team in their role to support these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

79.

Future meeting dates

25 January 2018

29 March 2018 (Development Session)

Minutes:

The Board noted that the next meeting would be held on Thursday 25th January 2018 at 9.30am in the Council Chamber.