To receive an update on the transformation of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
Minutes:
Carol Crowe, Berkshire East Clinical Commissioning Group, gave an update in respect of the work taking place at a national and regional level to transform CAHMS by improving capacity and capability in the system by 2020.
NHS England has stated that it wanted to see CAHMS move away from the traditional tiered approach towards the development of an integrated whole system approach where the NHS, public health, local authority, children’s services, education and voluntary and community sectors worked together to deliver a sustainable service that was built around the needs of children, young people and their families and placed an emphasis on the promotion of good mental health and wellbeing, early intervention and building resilience.
In August 2015, NHS England published ‘Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Service’. This guidance set out a strategic vision for improving mental health services for children and young people over the next five years and outlined a phased approach to securing locally driven sustainable transformation. The publication also provided guidance to support the development of Local Transformation Plans as well as a number of templates and self assessment forms that would need to be completed and incorporated into the Local Transformation Plan prior to its submission to NHS England.
It was reported that funding of £250million would be available nationally to transform CAHMS with funding allocated on a per capita basis. Bracknell Forest’s allocation for 2015/16 would total £236,659 and it had been reported that this funding level would be the minimum funding level that would be repeated in future years.
Transformation work would be led by Clinical Commissioning Groups who would work in collaboration with commissioners, providers and young people and their families to develop and submit their Local Transformation Plans to Central Government by 16 October 2015. Berkshire East Clinical Commissioning Group had set up a Task and Finish Working Group to develop the East Berkshire Plan. This would then be signed of by the East Berkshire Children’s Board.
It was agreed that Lisa McNally would sit on the Working Group. Representatives of the Director of Children, Young People and Learning and the Young Health Maker Group would be sought for the Working Group. It was suggested that Kooth be used to conduct an online survey of young people to feed into the Plan’s development.
It was agreed that the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board and a representative of the Director of Children, Young People and Learning would become members of the East Berkshire Children’s Board.
It was stressed that Local Transformation Plans would be used to highlight and spread examples of good practice even if the service did not operate across the entire area covered by the Plan. Consequently Bracknell Forest’s commissioning of Kooth could be included in the Berkshire East Plan.
The Health & Well-Being Board agreed that it expected the Transformation Plan to reflect the local needs and support . The Plan should have a clear focus on significantly reducing waiting times – with a regular monitoring and feedback to the Board. In addition, the Board expected commitment to proving support while young people were on the CAMHS waiting list (to prevent further deterioration) not just when they finally reached the end of it, and that this should be achieved through investment of some of the Transformation Funds into a 'blended' early intervention service using internet and face to face support on top of what was already provided.
Local Provision of CAMHS
It was reported that following the identification of additional funding the size of the Berkshire Adolescent Unit had been increased from seven to nine beds and that ten new members of staff had been recruited to CAHMS.
The CAMHS waiting list had remained stable with approximately 3,000 young people across Berkshire waiting for treatment; of these approximately 400 young people were resident in Bracknell Forest. Waiting list numbers had remained stable and the trajectories were currently showing reducing rates and it was expected that by March 2016 waiting times would be under 12 weeks.
It was acknowledged that the quickest way to reduce the waiting list was to ensure that initial referrals were correctly made and that alternative services were in place so that those who did not reach treatment thresholds received help early enough that a problem did not escalate. It was questioned whether it would be possible for Kooth to identify and work with those young people on the CAMHS waiting list who do not meet the common point of entry thresholds for CAMHS. This would result in those needing lower level interventions receiving them more quickly and reduce the waiting lists for those who need more intensive interventions. It was suggested that this approach could be incorporated into the Berkshire East Transformation Plan.
It was clarified that whilst CAMHS staff had undergone training in the NHS’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme to enable them to provide additional support to those suffering from depression and anxiety disorders. There was currently no children’s equivalent to the Adults IAPT Programme. If the Borough wished to provide this service to its young people then this could be provided through Kooth’s blended service.
The Board thanked Carol Crowe for her update.