Issue - meetings

The Chair welcomed Sally Nightingale, Steven Tingle and Terry Drake, from the NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit, to the meeting.

The report presented sought to provide the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee with information on the CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service) redesign journey in Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Members were provided with a presentation on the redesign including the approach, what has been achieved so far and the timeline going forward.

It was reported that currently CAMHS only has half the spend in comparison to adults mental health.  However, the CCG's across Lancashire have committed to a 4 year investment profile of £22.9m in 2021 rising to £26.3m in 2024. When questioned on the funding, members were advised that the funding profile would not meet the entire model at this time, and there would be a potential need to look at elements that could be implemented post 2024 unless more funding could be made available.

In response to the questions around how the county council can further support health partners in implementing the CAMHS proposed model of care, it was highlighted that there continued to be a need to look beyond the NHS funding, with more collaborative working between local authorities, health and the third sector. Members were informed that this redesign provided an opportunity to look at what could be achieved collectively to better support prevention services. In addition, it was suggested that the county council could review the high cost services currently in place to support young people at risk to identify ways that funding could be better invested through working collaboratively with health partners.

It was highlighted that one of the biggest priorities for the LEP (Lancashire Enterprise Partnership) related to adult mental health, so there was an opportunity to also look at work being undertaken within the private sector.

A question was raised in relation to the emerging issues faced in primary schools. Members were advised that although there was very good work being undertaken in some schools, there was a need to have a consistent and robust offer across all schools. It was highlighted that every school would have a link into the primary mental health offer. And to further support the offer to schools, mental health first aid training was being provided.

The committee was informed that early intervention (centring on the Primary Mental Health Work offer) would be one of the main priorities to help stem the flow of young people into CAMHS.

Members questioned the risk support area of the proposed model to further understand the provision of support to those children and young people on the edge of services. In addition, how the proposed model of care would ensure that those children and young people would be identified so they do not fall through the gaps. The committee was reassured that joint approaches between CAMHS and relevant partner agencies would be developed to enable the production of robust safety plans. However it was noted that there remains a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4