Minutes:
Kez Hayat, Commissioning Programme Manager for NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group was in attendance at the meeting with colleagues Jannine Robinson, Nasima Begum and Marina Nixon from the CCG to provide Members with a presentation on mental health and Covid 19 recovery.
It was reported that Programme plans had been reviewed and priorities updated to reflect the Covid 19 recovery phase.
A diagram to explain the Bury Mental Health Adult Services structure was shared with the committee and provided information on a complex pathway to access adult mental health services.
Support for children and young people was detailed with information on support lines and digital resources which have been launched in response to the pandemic. Early Break have a team of staff covering the help lines and the service is gathering detailed monitoring data to produce an evaluation report.
The Emotional Health & Wellbeing Offer for Bury was detailed with the Getting Help Line establishing excellent links with the other emotional health and wellbeing services in the borough. They are linking people into other services as needed and the team has developed a wealth of knowledge of what local support is available.
The GM Bereavement service was launched in May, enquiries from Bury residents had been low, although the service provides limited listening support and practical advice before signposting people for counselling or further support to local services.
Support for the BAME community was reported and several local support organisations offer practical help and activity sessions to help mental wellbeing.
An update was presented on the demand for mental health service with a summary of data provided and regular updates on demand and capacity were being monitored.
Information was given on services which have been maintained and their activity levels via remote appointments or telephone.
Future plans for mental health services in Bury were provided with priority actions identified for certain group and there would be several key areas for development in the coming months.
The Chair commented that some of the text contained in the presentation report format was too small to read and asked if this could be increased in size.
Councillor Walker asked about people who had a mental illness and were on the streets, would current services be able to support that group. It was reported that there was help available to the homeless and most vulnerable and examples of support provided to rough sleepers was explained.
Councillor Holt asked about demand for services from people with learning disabilities and it was explained that these have had to operate differently due to Covid rules but outreach support had still been provided. Councillor Holt added that day centres had not been operating as usual and was the system coping. It was reported that during the first lockdown a resource had been produced providing information on support available such as community hubs to help with food and medicine deliveries.
Due to the impact of Covid, Councillors expressed concerns with a potential rise in cases involving domestic violence and suicide rates especially in young males. Resources would be made available to target certain problems although it was difficult to predict short and long term at this moment in time.
The Chair thanked all the CCG officers for attending on behalf of the committee.
It was agreed:
That the report be noted.