Agenda and minutes

Venue: Microsoft Teams. View directions

Contact: Helen Barnsley - Democratic Services Officer 

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

General

Additional documents:

1(1)

Apologies

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies for absence from the meeting had been received from Councillors Jo Barker, Jonathan Chilvers, John Cooke (replaced by Councillor Mark Cargill), Yousef Dahmash, Judy Macdonald (North Warwickshire Borough Council, replaced by Councillor Marian Humphreys), Tracy Sheppard (Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council) and Chris Williams.

1(2)

Members’ Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

2.

Public Speaking

Any member of the public who is resident or working in Warwickshire, or who is in receipt of services from the Council, may speak at the meeting for up to three minutes on any matter within the remit of the Committee.

 

This can be in the form of a statement or a question. If you wish to speak please notify Democratic Services in writing at least two working days before the meeting.

 

You should give your name and address and the subject upon which you wish to speak. Full details of the public speaking scheme are set out in the Council’s Standing Orders.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

3.

RISE Service Update pdf icon PDF 342 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Joint Committee received a presentation on the Rise service from Becky Hale, WCC Assistant Director, People Strategy and Commissioning and Chris Evans, General Manager, Mental Health Services for Children & Young People Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. The presentation covered the following areas:

 

  • An opening slide outlining the services delivered in conjunction with CWPT and CW Mind.
  • Service Delivery during the Covid-19 incident, requiring rapid and immediate changes.
  • Activity during the Covid-19 incident, showing waiting times for assessment, acute liaison performance and the percentage of assessments completed within 48 hours.
  • An activity comparison for the periods of June and July of 2019 and 2020, showing the increased number of new and follow up appointments.
  • An activity profile for the same periods showing a comparison of contact types.
  • Local Transformation Plan (LTP) and the priorities for 2019/20.
  • Transformation workstream updates
  • Challenges
  • Achievements

 

The report focussed on the progress on the Local Transformation Plan (LTP) and the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, containing a number of key updates:

 

  • Warwickshire Children and Young People’s Emotional Well-being and Mental Health Contract was now in year four of the seven year contract.
  • The breadth of services in the Rise offer continued to be delivered.
  • The ‘front door’ to the Rise Service had remained open for children and young people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Rise had implemented and developed new ways of working to support children and young people during the pandemic.
  • No staff were moved away from working to support the mental health and well-being of children and young people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • In two consecutive months during the pandemic there had been an increase in the clinical activity of services linked to CWPT in Coventry and Warwickshire which included Warwickshire Rise.
  • The delivery and refresh of the LTP and responding to Covid would continue to be the focus over the next six months.
  • There would be an increased emphasis on co-production and engaging with children, young people, parent/carers and professionals.

 

The detail of the report focussed on the LTP and the priorities it included for 2019/20. Key updates from workstreams were reported under the areas of:

 

  • Mental health in schools teams (MHST) (South Warwickshire)
  • Community partnerships
  • Vulnerable children’s offer
  • 18 – 25 offer
  • Crisis offer
  • Pears site
  • Digital offer
  • National four week wait pilot (trailblazer)
  • Eating disorder services
  • Co-production/engagement strategy

 

The report then focussed on the RISE service offer during Covid-19, key messages provided, challenges faced and the achievements during this period. The next steps for 2020/21 were listed.

 

Questions and comments were invited, with responses provided as indicated:

 

  • On the key updates from work streams and mental health in schools’ teams, more information was sought about the unsuccessful bid for additional funding in the north Warwickshire area. Context was provided on the eligible areas within both Warwickshire and Coventry, the successful bids in the south of the county and in Coventry. Not all ‘STP’ areas had been as successful, which was one of the reasons provided why the north Warwickshire bid had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

The All Age Autism Strategy pdf icon PDF 352 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

A circulated report was supplemented by a presentation from Alison Cole, WCC Senior Joint Commissioner for Disabilities and Autism. The report provided an update on the development of the joint Warwickshire and Coventry All Age Autism Strategy and an outline of activities being progressed to support delivery of the strategy.

 

Background and context were provided about autism, the statutory responsibilities of local authorities and clinical commissioning groups and the collaborative approach to developing a joint all age strategy for autistic people.

 

Subsequent sections focussed on the prevalence of autism and strategy development. The strategy was informed by a range of co-production and mapping activity. The report highlighted findings from the co-production and based on this evidence, five priority areas had been identified:

 

  • Support autistic people and people with social, communication and emotional health needs to help themselves pre and post diagnosis
  • Reduce inequalities for autistic people and make Coventry and Warwickshire autism friendly places to live
  • Develop a range of organisations locally with the skills to support autistic people
  • Develop the all age autism specialist support offer
  • Co-produce, work together and learn about autism

 

The report included sections on delivery of the strategy objectives and priority actions for delivery in 2020/21. A copy of the draft autism strategy had been appended to the report.

 

The presentation covered the following areas:

  • A video clip from the National Autistic Society https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk4qs8jGN4U
  • Why do we need a five-year strategy?
  • Key messages from co-production and research
  • The five key priority areas (detailed above)
  • 2020/21 Activity

 

Questions and comments were invited, with responses provided as indicated:

 

·       A question concerning the aim to reduce the number of education and healthcare plans required. This would require autism training and it was asked how many schools had trained all staff to level one and/or level two of the Autism Education Trust programme. Ross Caws responded that 125 schools had undertaken level 1 training, with 24 doing the level 2 training. This comprised some 3572 people. There were a total of 247 schools in Warwickshire. Discussion about the endeavours being made with the remaining schools, whilst noting that this training was not mandatory, but there were continued efforts to offer it.

·       There was an under-representation of the prevalence of autism in females and diagnosis tools were more effective at diagnosing autism in males. Questions and points about how to ensure effective diagnosis for females, the relative responsiveness of Warwickshire compared to other areas, the plethora of evidence on national autism forums and the long waiting lists for diagnosis. There was a need for more resources and questions were submitted on planned measures to address current delays.  A written response would be provided after the meeting about gender and diagnosis.

·       People were reluctant to disclose autism. It was not a learning disability, and people feared prejudice and ignorance. There needed to be more emphasis on educating and training wider society. Officers agreed that not all autistic people wanted to be considered as people with a learning disability. This needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.