To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting. 

77.1           Members received an update from Councillor Mrs J E Day, the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee, on matters discussed at its last meeting held on 10 January 2017. 

77.2           Members were advised that one of the agenda items had related to mental health in Gloucestershire and the Committee had been pleased to welcome representatives from the 2gether NHS Foundation Trust, the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (GCCG), the Council and the Police to the meeting to engage with Members on this important issue.  It was clear that there had been a real culture change in the way in which mental health services were commissioned and provided.  The structure had changed from one of containment and sanctuary, to one of hope and recovery; from a legacy of exclusion to one of aspiration and action to ensure inclusion.  The understanding of mental health illnesses had greatly improved, with significant investment in learning from experience and developing knowledge; a good example of this was the establishment of the Severn and Wye Recovery College which empowered people to become ‘students of their own recovery’.  It was noted that the Mental Health Acute Response Service was co-located with the Police at Waterwells and worked closely with the Ambulance Service.  Police Officers had benefitted from their proximity to health professionals in terms of advice and accessing health records and care plans to inform decisions when people were in crisis.  The Committee had also heard about the pilot schemes that were in place to better support children and young people, in particular the Stroud Schools project.  There had been, and continued to be, a lot of activity to remove the stigma that had been associated with mental health; the Committee fully supported this work and, in support of this principle, some Members had chosen to share their own experiences.

77.3           Councillor Day went on to advise that the Committee had been pleased to receive the End of Life Strategy and agreed with its aim to make sure that the highest quality end of life care services were available to all who needed it.  It had been particularly good to hear that time had been taken to speak with families about their end of life experiences, both good and bad, and that this feedback had influenced the development of the strategy.  In its consideration of the GCCG performance report, the Committee had noted that the concerns remained in relation to the 62 day cancer target and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), and the GCCG continued to work through the associated action plans to address these issues.  The concerns regarding ambulance response times would be looked at in greater detail at the Committee’s meeting in March.  Members had been disappointed that there seemed to be no improvement in performance against the non-emergency patient transport service delivered by Arriva Transport Solutions Ltd.  There had been a frank exchange of views with the GCCG and, although it had been made clear that it was applying all clauses in the contract, Members felt that the GCCG should be looking at stronger measures.

77.4           During the scrutiny of the adult social care and public health budget, it had been noted that Gloucestershire County Council would receive a further £2.5M for the adult social care grant for 2017/18; this was a one-off amount and was ring-fenced, aimed at starting the transition to the increase in the Better Care fund from 2018/19.  Members had discussed how this funding might best be utilised and it had been suggested that it could cover some of the cost reductions in adult mental health services as well as services for people with learning disabilities.  With regard to learning disabilities, Members had been made aware of the positive work that had been carried out in terms of helping individuals into employment and increasing independence.  Queries had been raised in respect of the reduction in the number of assessments being carried out and it was noted that the cost reductions in the budget related to a change in approach brought about by the Building Better Lives Programme rather than a reduction in staffing levels for social worker teams.

77.5           The Chair indicated that the update would be circulated to Members following the meeting and it was

RESOLVED          That the feedback from the last meeting of the Gloucestershire Health and Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee be NOTED.