Issue - meetings

Report CEF22007

Policy Development and Scrutiny Committees were able to review contracting arrangements on an annual basis, where the contract was valued over £500k.  The Bromley Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service contract commenced on 1 April 2021 and had an annual value which exceeded this threshold (50/50 with SEL CCG).  The report provided an insight into the delivery of the contract in accordance with the service specification and did not consider the wider CYP mental health and wellbeing arrangements that were delivered outside of the contract. Bromley Y had developed an accompanying presentation in order to provide an awareness of operational service delivery which was attached to the report.

The Chairman welcomed Gill Allen, Director of Bromley Y, James Postgate, Associate Director for Integrated Commissioning Bromley CCG and Daniel Manns, Integrated Strategic Commissioner Bromley Council and South East London CCG Bromley to the meeting.

In response to questions, the Committee noted that significant additional resources had been put into both CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and Bromley Y with the local children’s mental health system expanded by a third in the last three years.  Members noted that CAMHS was now a £4m service.  There were still challenges in terms of recruitment although there had been significant investment.

The Director of Bromley Y welcomed the 9-year contract and reported that they were not yet fully staffed as a result of the backlog but would be.  The Service was ensuring that where young people were waiting, there was sufficient resources in place to provide some support.  The only area of concern was the gap between Bromley Y (a needs led service) and CAMHS (a threshold led service) with the young people waiting arguably the most vulnerable.  The Committee noted that the situation was challenging, with growing waiting lists but there was a clear desire to identify the best solution for the young people.  Members requested that an update be provided at the next meeting confirming that meetings had taken place and plans were in place.

The Director of Education highlighted the impact of successive lockdowns on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people over the past two years.  Early intervention and early identification of wellbeing needs was identified by the Local Authority and its partner agencies very early as a key ongoing priority.  There was a particular focus on the earlier identification of wellbeing needs before they reached the point of significant mental health needs requiring specialist services.  Bromley Y had been central to leading on this early intervention work and the delivery of a mental health and wellbeing toolkit for schools which had been very well received.  It would be through this work around early identification and prevention that some of the sustainability issues could be addressed.  The Director of Children, Education and Families confirmed that the need for further resources to support mental health and wellbeing would be an ongoing priority.

Members noted that work continued on the children’s social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55