Agenda item

Daniel Morgan presented the reports. It was noted that recovery work had been taking longer due to lengthy waiting times for therapy assessments in Barnet. In addition, waiting times for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) resulting from the pandemic, became a priority as part of that recovery.

The integration of several different providers within Barnet had its benefits and disadvantages which would be addressed by the review to aid future planning.

Implementation of the Thrive Model in its entirety on mental health and wellbeing, was the main focus for NCL CCG.

In the interim, more investment had been put into the CAMHS out of hours services, eating disorders as well as specialist services at the Royal Free Hospital . 

Recruitment in areas such as Learning Disability and Autism as well as Care, Education and Treatment Reviews (CETRs) was underway to support specific needs of children as part of the transforming care programme, which was a joint initiative between NHS and the Local Authority.

Joanne Murfitt talked about the review of new services in addition to services already in place. One of the main focuses of the reviews across the North London Boroughs was to establish the financial implications across the NCL offer in relation to outcomes for people. Discussions were to be held with local care partnerships to integrate services and offer better delivery across community and mental health services, linked into the voluntary sector.

Next steps involved working collaboratively to develop a more tangible plan for the Borough and its partners by the new year.

Lisa Coffman asked about the timeline for information to be shared with families who had been waiting a long time for assessments. It was noted that although some engagement had already taken place, a concrete plan would be set by the new year with implementation to take place after April 2022.

In addition to a communications plan, Helen Phelan queried what opportunities were available for specialist partners to feed into plans in an integrated way. It was noted that following the initial phase of work that was completed with resident engagement and other groups, taking into account challenges, a new communications plan was needed to build on the core service offer with input from Barnet partners. 

Councillor David Longstaff enquired about timelines for completion of recovery work. Daniel Morgan said that recovery work involving multiple layers, was anticipated to be completed by end of the next financial year. Other areas of recovery was anticipated to take longer due to long Autism assessment times, dependent on workforce issues.

Councillor Longstaff said that it would be useful to understand the particular issues that affected Barnet specifically to be able to manage expectations. Joanne Murfitt said that a discussion pack was being put together which would include implications for Barnet. In addition to the communications plan, a short to medium plan would be shared with the Board.

Action: Daniel Morgan

Collette McCarthy asked how funding would be distributed amongst the different specialist services. The expectation was that integrated care partners take key roles in implementation and prioritisation. It was noted that the NHS was going through a very significant transformation with new integrated systems in the coming year. Providers would form a critical role looking inwardly to develop strategy and delivery. A joint approach would be needed to look at funding and resources, local position, performance and outcomes individuals were achieving to better serve residents.

Chris Munday recommended that the review take into account the guidance published on Looked After Children and Care Leavers by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.

With regards to mental health, it was recommended that the document from the National Child Mortality Database on tragic suicides, one of the major causes of death among young people across the country, be taken into account when planning around mental health.

In terms of Autism diagnosis, support from Educational Psychologists was available to help reduce Autism waiting times which had been raised with the recovery group.

The Executive Director felt that some improvement had been made with some therapy assessment times. This could be improved further collectively, so that children and young people could access a range of services in order for them to thrive.