Issue - meetings

The Committee will receive an update from Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT) about the transformation of community mental health services.

The Committee received a report and presentation from Eleanor Cappell, Alastair Penman and Richard Onyon of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust (CWPT). The report confirmed the commitment to expanding services for people experiencing mental health illness. A revised approach would enable people to take an active role in their care planning and delivery, promoting greater choice and control over their own health and wellbeing. CWPT was committed to people not having to repeat their story or have multiple assessments. The report set out the approach to fostering a sense of safety and support, building trusting relationships with individuals, to promote recovery and a strengths-based approach.

The impact and benefits of this approach were reported, along with the aims to reduce health inequalities.  Key aspects were a multi-disciplinary approach, providing better access with greater geographical reach. There would be closer links with the community and localities, including partnership working with the voluntary and community sector (VCS). The aim was to be more responsive preventing people reaching a mental health crisis requiring their admission to hospital. The transformation had and would continue to deliver these positive impacts to reduce health inequalities, through specialist social work services, having a stronger presence in community teams, and moving to a strengths-based specialist assessment. As the transformation progressed with teams coming together, the focus would be on improving referral pathways, moving away from diagnosis-led services towards more ‘open door’ personalised support.

The report was for the Committee’s information but also sought support to the permanent closure of the pre-existing day services. The supporting presentation drew out the key messages including the rationale to close the day hospitals. Slides covered the following areas:

• Community mental health transformation - impact
• The National ‘ask’
• CWPT’s impact
• Adult social care offer
• The commitment
• What are the benefits?
• Key areas of focus for 2024/25
• Learning and what will change moving forward
• Day hospitals – The former Clinical Commissioning Group commissioned the Oakwood and Fennel Day Hospitals. The services were largely suspended in response to the Covid pandemic. The pandemic had accelerated the development of modernised mental health services.
• Recommendations for the permanent closure of the day hospitals, as they duplicated services now delivered via multi-disciplinary assessment, care planning and delivery of new therapeutic options within a place-based model.
• The benefits of the modernised service, which was more responsive, integrated, and individualised, with care closer to home and with the ambition to achieve better outcomes for patients.

In closing the presentation, Alastair Penman confirmed that currently people requiring inpatient care were being cared for locally. Richard Onyon emphasised the benefits of the community teams in providing constant and more responsive cover for the whole of Warwickshire, rather than requiring people to travel to specific centres like that located at Nuneaton. The new service was holistic and enabled better management of inpatient beds. It had removed the previous requirement for patients to be located at centres a considerable distance from their home. Eleanor Cappell reminded of the earlier presentation to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5