Agenda item

The Board will consider a update on the Thriving Kirklees Partnership, including the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and emotional wellbeing support provided for Children in Care.

Contact:

Stewart Horn, Head of Children’s Integrated Commissioning

The Board considered a report setting out the Thriving Kirklees and CAMHS Update presented by Tom Brailsford, Service Director (Resources, Improvement and Partnerships) who explained that:

·       Children’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing activity in Kirklees was provided through the Thriving Kirklees contract.

·       The lead contractor for Thriving Kirklees was Locala, in partnership with South West Yorkshire Foundation Trust (SWYFT), Northorpe Hall, Yorkshire Children’s Centre and Homestart.

·       An independent review of the service had been commissioned to evaluate how the partnership and integration had progressed.

·       Following the review, an action plan has been created to implement the recommendations to be implemented by commissioners and partners.

·       This included an update of the service specifications, which were being reviewed with stakeholders to reflect changing needs and to drive improvements during the second five years of the contract.

·       The Children’s Emotional Wellbeing Service (CHEWS) was provided by Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust. The Children’s Emotional Wellbeing Service (CHEWS) was provided by Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust.

·       The Covid 19 pandemic impacted the service in two ways – demand for the service had increased and the capacity to deliver the service had been reduced.

·       This was either through restricted face to face contact or staff sickness/isolation.

·       This resulted in the increase in expected waiting times from under 12 weeks in October 2020 to 24 weeks in July 2021.

·       Work was being undertaken with Thriving Kirklees to find ways to reduce 24 week waiting time.

·       This included improvements to the Single Point of Access, such as better clinical triage and closer working with Early Support services.

·       In line with national and regional trends demand for autism and ADHD assessment in Kirklees had increased in recent years

·       The assessment service was significantly impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic. Assessment clinics were halted as face to face contact was not possible and clinicians were redeployed to carry out other tasks.

·       Waiting times rose to 92.4 weeks in September 2021, with 789 children and young people on the waiting list.

·       An action plan had been created to reduce waiting times and improve support to children and families waiting for assessment. This included short term funding for extra assessments and additional long term funding to increase the number of assessments carried out to match demand.

·       The aim was to reduce the longest waiting times to under 12 months within a year.

·       The waiting list for autism diagnosis was now down to around 6 months.

·       Demand for support with eating disorders had risen sharply throughout the pandemic with the caseload rising from 39 in September 2020 to 81 in August 2021.

·       Eating disorder referrals were on a downward trajectory with a 100% response time targets achieved in September 2021.

·       Additional funding has been made available to support and develop an increased community eating disorder provision, with an emphasis on early intervention and hospital admission avoidance.

·       Waiting times for Emotional Wellbeing clinics were 5 to 6 weeks, against a target of 28 days. This was a result of difficulties with recruitment and retention of staff.

·       A new holistic service model for the Placement Support team (known as One Placement Support) was currently being developed which will include dedicated clinicians, including psychologists, to work with children and staff teams.

·       The Board were asked to agree to receive future updates in relation to the Emotional Health and Wellbeing provision for Looked After Children as the One Placement Support was developed and implemented.

The Board commended the work done to drive improvement under very challenging circumstances and it was noted that the rise in demand had overtaken planned investment to increase capacity.

Tom Brailsford acknowledged the need to invest in the model which offered support at the earliest opportunity and added that a place-based approach would be taken in partnership with schools.  The Board commented that involvement with stakeholders, schools and the local community was reassuring and that investment to enable efficient early interventions could prevent children becoming Looked After.

The Board noted that waiting times were long especially from a child’s point of view and a discussion was held in relation to the challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff.

Responding to a question about the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on resignations, Tom Brailsford advised there was the need to invest in long term career progression, taking a proactive approach in making sure that Kirklees was seen as an attractive place to work.  Work was also being undertaken to formulate a ‘work-force’ strategy for the next 2-5 years.

The Board highlighted developing local talent, such as university students, was important. Tom Brailsford agreed and added that this could be achieved though establishing a route into early careers with the local authority, and by providing work experience opportunities.

RESOLVED: The Board noted the contents of the Thriving Kirklees and CAMHS Updateand agreed to receive future updates in relation to the Emotional Health and Wellbeing provision for Looked After Children as the One Placement Support was developed and implemented.