Meeting documents

To receive the presentation and discuss.

The Board Considered and commented on the information and the presentation.

The Deputy Director of Commissioning-Mental Health, Autism and Learning Disabilities for the CCG and his team made the presentation, including slides and a video.  He noted that the original presentation was going to cover a wide range of issues, including not just adults but also children, but the range was too great for one meeting.  Therefore, in discussing adult mental health, they will be specifically discussing the Open Mental Health initiative, which entails 11 providers, the NHS, the CCG, and the local authority all working together.  He and his team will be modelling today the new way of working, which gained them Trailblazers status in September of 2019.  Persons receiving support and their families are at the centre, but all partners collaborate before acting.  Covid has presented a real challenge, but their collaboration has allowed them to achieve great things. 

The next speaker was a representative of Second Step in Sedgemoor.  She noted that Open Mental Health was created to get rid of barriers and ensure that they provided help from the right service to the persons in need.  She emphasised that mental health does not occur alone; there are complex and multiple factors, so this initiative uses a holistic approach.  She then went over the Key Principles of Open Mental Health, noting that it’s a co-production model with experts at every stage of the process:

·         Preventative engagement rather than reacting

·         Open access – no wrong door, no shut door, always a door

·         Co-production VCSE, statutory colleagues, and "experts by experience"

·         All inclusive – no one is excluded based on criteria or diagnosis

·         Warm introductions in, across, and between services

·         Adopting a trauma-informed approach by all partners

·         Flexible and responsive to needs of the individual, outcome-focused

·         Whole-system approach with NHS and VCSE elements combined – all one team

·         Building on community assets

Two representatives of Open Mental Health then spoke, advising that they are leaders called "experts by experience".  They have been users of the services themselves and have been made to feel like equal partners with all the other professionals in Open Mental Health.  They don’t just check in with users afterwards; they are involved from the very beginning at the strategic level including co-planning, evaluation, meetings, design planning, etc.  They have been proud to speak with other CCGs across Somerset about how Open Mental Health is working; for example, the warm transfers where someone from their group accompanies the service user to their first appointment with a different service and keeps in touch with this person throughout the provision of the whole range of services (housing, addiction services, etc.)

One representative then noted that, at Open Mental Health, she works on the design and delivery of training for those who work with hard-to-engage patients.  She first spoke to the CCG about how to support new staff about engaging with person with mental health in a way that is empowering and without setting up barriers between themselves and new staff; and she reiterated the other representative’s belief that they have been treated as equal partners from the beginning.  They will deliver the training across Primary Care in Somerset; they have presented this designed training once so far and will continue to train volunteers and others.  She is very proud to be involved with Open Mental Health, because as a user of the service herself, she feels that it is so important. 

The Deputy Director of Commissioning then presented a video which showed service users speaking about their previous experiences (negative) and the new system, including services like the ‘recovery college’ to promote wellbeing, better access, expanded services like the 24/7 emotional support helpline, wrap-around support tailored to each service user, and far more people now being able to access services.  The VCSE and NHS together are a great team to work with, and there is also collaboration with the police for safety support and de-escalation.  People now know that local services are available and are part of a network where one can find services suitable for each individual in a streamlined process.  All providers across Somerset are involved and now have more to offer people by sharing information and collaborating together. 

The Second Step representative returned after the video to discuss the Open Mental Health VCSE Offer, which entails Locality Teams and Countywide Support-VCSE.  Both sections include specialist workers, training, peer support, etc.  She also discussed the access routes to Open Mental Health, which includes those listed below, noting that all clients transferred to Open Mental Health will have an initial contact made within three working days:

·         24/7 Mindline Helpline

·         Email:  support@openmentalhealth.org.uk

·         GP transfer (GP or MH liaison nurse)

·         Any team member at a locality hub

·         Any network partner

·         Introduction by social prescribing workers, housing teams, social care and pharmacists

The Service Director-Mental Health and Learning Disabilities of the Somerset Foundation Trust then discussed the key achievements of Open Mental Health, including:

·         More people accessing support (3800 contacts per month on average)

·         Low waiting times and a recovery rate significantly higher than the national average

·         No patients placed out of area

·         Ten peer support workers with a further five in training and four recruited

·         Physical health support workers helping people with mental illness to improve physical wellbeing

·         No waiting time for care coordinators in the majority of localities

She noted that Somerset’s Open Mental Health model has been cited as an exemplar nationally, so there is much to be proud of. 

The Committee then asked questions; the first enquired what were the links with family safeguarding teams?  It was replied that this is being done differently through integrated Open Mental Health and its volunteer organisations, who can introduce users and their families to other services and partners.  It was asked with respect to family safeguarding how Open Mental Health services are connected up specifically with children and their families; it was responded that the family safeguarding model is part of their own model and that the Commissioner at Open Mental Health will be part of family safeguarding. 

The Chair thanked everyone involved for their presentation and apologised for the technical difficulties.

The Chair noted that the Somerset Health and Wellbeing Board received and discussed the presentation.