Agenda and draft minutes

Members of the Joint Committee are asked to consider whether they have an interest in any of the matters on the agenda and, if so, to formally declare that interest.

Councillors Gordon declared personal interests in all matters under consideration as they are both members of the Pennine Care Foundation Trust.

Members of the public present at the meeting are invited to ask questions on any matter relating to the work or performance of the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.  A period of up to 30 minutes will be set aside for public questions.

There were no questions from members of the public

Members of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee are asked to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on the 26^th November 2015.  Minutes attached.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 26^th November 2015 be approved as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

Jim Battle Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner and Laura Mercer Partnerships Office will attend the meeting to report on the work undertaken to support people with mental health problems; expansion of the Sanctuary Programme in the East of Greater Manchester and the suicide prevention work undertaken by the police and crime commissioner’s office.

Members of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered a verbal presentation from Jim Battle Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner and Laura Mercer Partnerships Officer.  The presentation contained the following information:

The Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner reported that supporting and assisting those with mental health problems is a major issue for police officers and places a great deal of demand on police time.  In the past there has been concern about the treatment of some service users at times of crisis; the police have responded but not been able to deliver the service required, service users have been transported in police vans, in some cases for a number of hours and with nowhere else to place them ended up in police custody.

The Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner reported that the police together with partners are working to prevent, intervene and support people in crisis.  The Devolution Manchester arrangements provide a new opportunity to develop and integrate these services.  A Greater Manchester Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy has been agreed, this comprehensive strategy, developed with partners, has a focus on prevention and the service users being able to access an appropriate response.

The Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner reported that a new “Sanctuary” Scheme provides a local safe place for people to go for those who are or fear they may be nearing crisis point.

The Partnerships Officer reported that the police now provide police officers to act as a single point of contact in respect of mental health issues.  Greater Manchester Police and Pennine Care Foundation Trust will now provide reciprocal training within each organisations in respect of restraint handling and identifying signs of mental health distress.

The Partnerships Officer informed members of the committee of the Rapid Assessment pilot scheme in Oldham.  The service is available twenty four hours, seven days a week and enables the police to access a mental health professional to offer advice and support.  If the member of the public is known to mental health services than the advice can be appropriate to their needs.  The Deputy Police and Crime and Commissioner reported that the police need to avoid a situation where two police officers are tied up at A&E for a number of hours waiting for a patient to be assessed.

The Partnerships Officer reported that the threshold is too high for accessing mental health services and work is underway with partner agencies to prevent service users from reaching crisis point.  Small grants will be available for the voluntary sector to provide peer support to those suffering from low level mental health problems.

There is no section 136 suite available for Manchester city residents, Pennine Care provide support on an interim basis.

In response to a Member’s question, the Partnerships Officer reported that the health care in custody contract is currently out for tender.  The tender has been revised to reflect the findings from the recently undertaken health needs assessment.  There is a greater emphasis on support provided to those  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

Members of the Joint Committee are asked to consider a verbal presentation from Gary Graham Project Director for the Manchester Mental Health Services transaction and Julie Taylor, Director of Service Development.

Members of the Committee considered a verbal presentation from Gary Graham, Project Director and Julie Taylor, Director of Service Development with regards to the Manchester Mental Health Services Tender.

The Project Director reported that Manchester’s three clinical commissioning groups and the Trust Development Agency have confirmed that an alternative NHS provider will be selected to take over the running of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust (MMHSCT) through a procurement process.  This process will be limited to existing mental health providers cover the patch.

Pennine Care will be submitting a bid to be the preferred provider of these services.  The bid will be overseen by a dedicated project team and will not detract from the ongoing business of the Trust.

The Project Director reported that this is a very significant project for the Trust.  The Trust’s bid will bring together key stakeholders including the third sector. 

In response to a question from the Chair, the Project Director reported that the new organisation will be a stand alone organisation, owned by Pennine Care, with one Chief Executive. 

In response to a Member’s question, the Director of Service Development reported that there had been a delay in the Trust Development Agency issuing the details of the tender, this has not however affected the provisional start date.

With regards to Member’s concerns in relation to the impact on existing Pennine Care services, the Project Director reported that the Manchester Commissioners will require a bespoke set of services different from that provided by Pennine Care.

The Chair of the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee will provide members of the Committee with a verbal update at the meeting.

It was agreed:

That the Committee places on record its thanks to the staff of the Stockport Coroner’s Court for organising and facilitating a very educational and informative visit.

Members may want to consider if they wish to comment on the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust’s Quality Account.

It was agreed:

1.   That, once received from the Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, the Quality account will be circulated to Members of the Joint Committee for comment.

2.   Once comments are received as per above, the Chair and the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Officer will formulate a commentary for submission.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked Councillors Gordon and Gartside for their contribution to the Joint Committee and wished them well for the future.