Agenda item

Report from Adrian Crook, Director of Adult Social Services and Community Commissioning attached.

The Chair introduced Will Blandamer who provided the committee with a verbal refresh on a presentation made at the start of the municipal year and he stated that mental health was important as part of the strategic framework. The strategy can be co designed with a number of partners to provide the principal provision of mental health services in the borough.

Adrian Crook, Director of Adult Social Services and Community Commissioning also provided the Committee with information from the report attached in the agenda pack on the Mental Health Strategy which offers a series of recommendations with a supporting evidence base, further to a review of Bury’s mental health services.

The associated Delivery Plan provided guidance and the required actions to deliver the strategy’s recommendations along with a timescale for doing so. The development of the Mental Health Strategy and Delivery Plan for the Bury Locality had been set against the establishment of NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care.

The strategy and plans are one part of the complex landscape in Greater Manchester, where many parts are brought together and will require the system to work together, differently than in the past in order to transform whole pathways of care to deliver better care for local populations.

The Bury Locality Board are recommended to receive and approve these documents, the implementation of which will be overseen by the Bury Integrated Delivery Collaborative.

A Members asked about the dementia care review and Bury was 26% lower than the national average but had concerns that it was a progressive illness and could go worst very quickly within a year. It was acknowledged that there was no outreach and home intervention team in Bury as some other areas have and this would be looked at within the strategy and action plan.

Will Blandamer drew to the attention of Members within the report that for older people with dementia Bury does well in terms of recorded prevalence and had the fifth highest recorded rate in the country in 2020/21. 63% of all over 65s registered with a GP practice against an England average of 3.9%. Diagnosis rates for dementia in 2021 were good as was the quality rating for residential care and nursing home beds. However, annual reviews of people’s dementia care plans was poor, only 26% of plans are annual reviewed (England average is 39.7%). Bury also had the 12th worst direct standardised mortality rate in England in 2020-2021.

A Member made note that in the report some of the old ward names were listed and North Moor should be recorded as North Manor.

A Member enquired how would this improve or reduce assessments and it was reported that referrals ranging from GPs to community mental health teams would be looked at with the aim of not having repeated assessments conducted and one single point of entry into the system.

The Chair asked about CAMHs in the report and it could take some time for children to be seen by services. It was reported that in Bury the capacity review had reported that the service provision would be doubled due to the demand. A new mental health and school provision would be launched as post Covid there had been a significant rise across multiple service areas. Screening would be better with earlier support via teachers and professionals in the community.

The Chair asked for further information on support for schools and it was reported that this request would be communicated to the CAMHs lead for an update to be provided to the committee.

A Member asked about veteran’s mental health and it was stated that this was a specialist treatment and the numbers of veterans requiring help was growing.

The Chair also enquired about maternity outreach clinics and any actions as the report stated Bury’s position was amber. Adrian Crook would pick up on this issue but the report was still in a draft stage.

In Summary, the Chair welcomed the plan and the Health Scrutiny Committee would revisit this topic in one year.

It was agreed:

          That the report be noted.