Agenda item

To consider a report from the Head of Democratic Services introducing a range of information regarding proposed changes to Mental Health Services for Adults and Older People in Wetherby and the planned public / service user engagement activity.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report that introduced a range of information regarding proposed changes to Mental Health Services for Adults and Older People in Wetherby and the planned public / service user engagement activity.

The following documents were appended to the report:

-  Developing mental health services for adults and older people in Harrogate and Rural District – Summary

-  Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee for North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council and Leeds City Council

-  Engagement Plan – Developing Mental Health Services in Harrogate and Wetherby

The following were in attendance:

-  Caroline Baria, Deputy Director Integrated Commissioning, Adults and Health

-  Kashif Ahmed, Head of Commissioning (Mental Health & Learning Disabilities), NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group

-  Paul-Andrew Knox, Locality Manager, Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust

-  Paul Hogarth, Locality Manager, Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser set out the proposals for service change, and the Head of Commissioning (Leeds CCG) provided more detail around the planned engagement and consultation.

Members discussed a number of matters, including:

·  Access to inpatient beds. The Chair commented that the proposals did not clearly set out that inpatient facilities in Harrogate would be closed, and that inpatient services would be relocated to York. CCG representatives noted that the proposed increase of community provision was intended to prevent admissions.

·  Transport considerations. Members felt that the proposals would have significant impact on families travelling to visit inpatients, if the closest inpatient facilities were provided in York. Members noted that many patients and their families are likely to be elderly, and that the distance to the proposed facilities, the level of access and associated costs were not acceptable.

·  Meeting Mental Health crisis needs. A member of the Scrutiny Board expressed significant concern about the proposals and questioned whether the proposals would meet the mental health crisis needs for the population of Wetherby and the affected surrounding areas.  Leeds CCG reported that challenges for community mental health services formed part of a national issue relating to mental health needs.

·  Alternative provision in Leeds. Members highlighted the need for the engagement activity to understand patient / public views around accessing in-patient services elsewhere (i.e. in Leeds) and queried whether Leeds and York Partnership Foundation NHS Trust (LYPFT) had sufficient capacity to meet the projected needs for service users in Wetherby and surrounding areas. Members were informed that this would create further pressure for LYPFT but Leeds CCG would work with both trusts to embed patient choice as part of the future arrangements.

·  Level of change. The Chair deemed ‘Level 3 – Significant Change’ as set out in the engagement plan to be incorrect for the purposes of the consultation, and considered ‘Level 4 – Major Change’ to be more appropriate. Members also expressed concern that the service change would affect a larger population than was originally reported, and therefore encouraged the CCG to contact other relevant local ward Members as part of their engagement.

·  Reach of engagement and consultation. Members of the Scrutiny Board also highlighted the need for the engagement and consultation process not to solely focus on current service users, but to take account of the wider population and potential / future service users.

RESOLVED –

a)  That the contents of the report, along with Members comments, be noted;

b)  That the draft minutes of the joint scrutiny meeting held on 15 February 2019 be noted

c)  That the concerns and matters raised by Scrutiny Board be formally submitted in response to the proposals set out in the report and presented at the meeting. 

Councillor S Lay left the meeting during discussion of this item at 16:40 pm.