Issue - meetings

Report ACH22-044

The Committee considered a report detailing the annual performance of the Mental Health Flexible Support Service (MHFSS) which was currently provided by Hestia Housing Support Ltd.

The report provided a summary of how the service had performed to date in addressing the requirements of the specification and demonstrating how community-based support was a key element in meeting the Council’s statutory duties by preventing the need for more expensive accommodation / health-based provision. The Mental Health Flexible Support Service was a specialist service for adults with mental ill health, offering and providing support towards independent living and resettlement in the community following hospital discharge or a diagnosis of mental ill health. The current contract was awarded to Hestia Housing and Support, following a competitive tender, and commenced on 1^st October 2019. The contract was let for 3 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years. The option to extend had been exercised and the contract was now in the first year of the 2-year extension.

The Integrated Strategic Commissioning Officer advised that, to date, the service had performed well over the life of the contract. The provider had been very proactive in supporting clients. When they had initially taken on the contract, reviews of all clients had been completed – this had highlighted a number of clients who were then assessed by the care co-ordinators and moved to different services. The provider had also work well with the Local Authority and Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust in relation to the safeguarding of clients. It was noted that efficiencies had been made without reducing the quality of the support and care provided.

In response to questions, the Integrated Strategic Commissioning Officer stated that referrals were made into the service – but if they were assessed as not being suitable for the service they would be signposted back to the referrer. It was noted that these instances had been reduced as a resource panel had been established and reviewed the cases before referral to Hestia. The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning advised that there was a close relationship between the Hestia support workers and the care managers that worked directly with the clients – both would feed in the information needed to build a holistic package of support which was bespoke to the service user. With regards to how success was measured, the Integrated Strategic Commissioning Officer stated that, due to the nature of the client group, there would be some clients that would always require some level of support. Others would only be in the service for a couple of years then would be in a position to move on in stages. Members considered that reassurance needed to be provided through figures for comparison. The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning advised that comparative benchmarking data could be circulated to Members following the meeting.

A Member enquired if feedback was gathered from service users. The Integrated Strategic Commissioning Officer said that this was something  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48