Agenda item

To follow

The Chairman welcomed Lorraine Regan, Service Director, Adult Community Mental Health/Adult Learning Disability – Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust (“Service Director”) to the meeting to provide an update on the ‘Right Care, Right Person’ (RCRP) approach and demand on services.

The Service Director informed Members that they were currently three weeks into the implementation of the RCRP approach – this was the new threshold to assist the Metropolitan Police Service in determining when to attend calls related to health care incidents. There had been some apprehension about the implementation of the programme however the first few weeks had gone smoothly – Oxleas had not made escalations in terms of decisions that they felt had not been appropriate. Data from the police suggested that there had been a reduction in calls – they were currently undertaking some scenario testing to identify if this had resulted in increased activity within services. It was noted that during the same period they had introduced the new South East London ‘136 Co-ordination Hub’ for those that were detained by the police under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act. As a result they had seen a significant reduction in the number of conveyances to the Emergency Department (ED). Members were advised that daily meetings continued to be held regarding RCRP. There was still work to be undertaken in relation to welfare checks which remained one of the biggest areas of risk for causing increased activity for health and social care partners.

In response to questions regarding planned future work, listed on page 9 of the pack, the Service Director said that a number of the items would be completed by the end of the calendar year, and the remainder by the end of the financial year. To date, all actions agreed had been implemented within the agreed timeframe and there were no reasons to believe any would be delayed.

With regards to demand for services in Bromley, the Service Director advised that community mental health services had seen the most significant increase. The Hub was seeing 600-800 referrals a month which was a 50% increase in demand compared to 2019. This had limited some of the progress and benefits of the transformation programme, however they were staring to see a shift in demand following some successful interventions being implemented. Patients were being placed into group programmes quickly and the ‘did not attend’ (DNA) rates were very low within the initial assessment service. Their partnership with BLG Mind was strong and the service would shortly be co-located in the Rachel Notley Day Centre, Beckenham which would further enhance joint working.

With the significant increase in demand for community mental health services, an increase in demand for crisis and bedding services would usually be anticipated – however this had not been the case and suggested that the work around community transformation had been successful. Bedding services remained a challenge as they often used more beds than they had within the Oxleas footprint. They had a bed recovery programme in conjunction with the ICS which had been further enhanced and developed. There were a number of actions, with the aim to be able to “live within their means” by April 2025 – this would significantly ease the pressure on the ED and there were also a number of other initiatives that would have an impact on this much sooner.

In response to a question, the Service Director advised that The Hub would attempt to contact service users on five occasions – depending on the urgency of the referral this may include a doorstep visit. If the service user did not engage following these attempted contacts they would be written to advising of a 14-day opt-in period, following which their referral would be closed.

The Chairman thanked the Service Director for her update to the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.