Agenda item

Purpose: To inform the Board of the proposed priorities for Children and Young People’s Mental Health across Reading, West Berkshire, and Wokingham and to seek sign off and/or suggestions to refine the priorities further.

Lajla Johansson (ICB Assistant Director of Joint Commissioning) presented the report on the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Local Transformation Plan (LTP) (Agenda Item 10).

Members highlighted the importance of prevention and also raising awareness. It was suggested that due to pressures of life, it could be difficult for parents to take the time to talk to children, and that it was important to support them in doing this. It was also suggested that problems had got worse due to isolation associated with the Covid pandemic.

The Transformation Plan was welcomed, but challenges around delivery were acknowledged.

It had been highlighted at the West Berkshire Corporate Parenting Panel that targets were not being achieved for delivering initial healthcare assessments for children in care (CIC). Members sought assurance that this would be prioritised. This was seen as important as these initial assessments could often highlight additional mental health needs. Also, a question was asked about what was meant by ‘mobilise the CIC offer’.

It was confirmed that the ICB was aware of the issue around initial healthcare assessments. This had been highlighted as a risk and steps were being taken to address this. It was noted that the CIC Service was a new, specialist service that had been co-funded by the ICB and West Berkshire Council. Recruitment was an issue and had slowed mobilisation of the service (i.e. staff on the ground delivering services). The ICB offered to give a further presentation to the Corporate Parenting Panel to provide an update on the service.

Action: ICB to give a presentation to the Corporate Parenting Panel on the CIC Service.

It was highlighted that at a recent Children and Young People’s Board meeting, a Member had highlighted that there was a lack of understanding amongst GPs, schools and parents about the support that was available to support children and young people’s mental health in West Berkshire. There was confusion about what was being provided by the statutory and voluntary sectors. It was suggested that there should be a meeting between the voluntary sector, and health / local authority partners to discuss pathways and clarify what services were available. The ICB was happy to support this.

Action: Hold a meeting between the voluntary sector, and health / local authority partners to discuss pathways and clarify what services were available.

It was noted that a Knowledge Event would be held on 20 March 2023 to allow professionals to meet local voluntary groups and learn about the services that they offered.

It was stressed that while social media could be an effective tool for engaging with communities, there were issues of security that affected vulnerable people and children in particular. This should be acknowledged whenever digital tools were discussed.

A point was made about the lack of reference to schools within the LTP. Reassurance was provided that schools were included within partners. It was recognised that children had better outcomes when engaged in education. Children spend a large proportion of their time in schools, so it was important that as many schools as possible were covered by Mental Health Support Teams with a good preventative offer. There were more multi-agency steering groups for new projects (e.g. services for complex young people) and Education was a key partner in these.

The importance of surveillance was highlighted to pick up early issues around attendance and attainment, which could be used to support a preventative approach. School Health Nurses were highlighted as key links. The aim was for Mental Health Support Teams to target children who were struggling to maintain their timetable. It was noted that children with complex needs had been home educated during the Covid pandemic, and acute service users had been identified late due to not being in school.

RESOLVED that the LTP Priorities be approved.