The Chairman welcomed Jess Mookherjee, Assistant Director of Public Health from NHS West Kent, Jill Roberts, Chief Executive of Sevenoaks Area MIND, and Ashley Scarff, Associate Director of Strategy and Planning from Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to the meeting.

The Chairman announced that she was proposing to take the item on the Review of Service Plans earlier in the meeting immediately after the presentations on Mental Health Provision and Maternity Services  at Pembury Hospital.

Cllr. Raikes clarified minute 16 to confirm that the visit to the Police Command and Control Centre had been arranged by the Chief Inspector rather than being hosted by him.

Resolved:      That the minutes of the meeting of the Social Affairs Select Committee held on 8 September 2011, as amended, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

None.

None.

It was noted the Actions from the previous meeting had been completed.

The Chairman confirmed that it was proposed that the Committee’s next meeting in January should be held at one of the Sencio Leisure Centre’s to facilitate the Committee’s focus on the theme of “active living” combined with a possible visit to a sheltered accommodation site.

Action: The Head of Community Development to look at holding the next meeting at a Sencio Leisure Centre combined with a visit to sheltered accommodation. 

Attending: Jess Mookherjee of West Kent NHS and Jill Roberts, Chief Executive of Sevenoaks MIND.

The Chairman invited Jess Mookherjee to update Members on Mental Health and Well Being Services and Issues in West Kent.

Ms Mookherjee explained that she intended to talk about the Mental Health needs of people in West Kent, focusing upon Sevenoaks District where appropriate, and differentiating between the needs of adults and children. She explained that 1 in 6 people in West Kent had a diagnosable common mental health problem (typically depression or anxiety) but that only 1 in 26 people sought medical help for the condition. Likewise 1 in 100 people had a treatable severe mental health illness (such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia)  but that only a quarter of these had an in-depth care package. This illustrated the lack of accessibility to services and the possible scale of unmet need. In terms of children aged between 5 and 15 years old it was felt that family coping processes had a greater bearing on their mental health rather than family structures and that there was a link between deprivation and mental health problems. This view was challenged by a Member who contended that greater support was available to the deprived and that mental wellbeing was more likely to suffer where someone was struggling to cope and support was not available. Ms Mookherjee accepted that whilst mental health was a complex issue where many factors came into play it was generally accepted that there was some co-relation between deprivation and poor mental health.

The scale of anticipated mental health disorders of children in Sevenoaks was outlined and it was noted that certain groups of children were at a higher risk of experiencing mental health problems with looked after-children 45% more likely to experience mental health issues, children with SEN 44% more likely and children with learning disability 22% and households without a working parent 20% more likely than average. It was explained that the categories of adults with the highest risk of experiencing mental health issues included prisoners, farmers, people with learning difficulties, the BME population, the homeless, carers and victims of domestic abuse. In terms of Mental Health inpatient admissions it was noted that Sevenoaks had a much lower level of inpatient admissions than the Kent average but that Swanley and Sevenoaks Eastern wards had some of the highest rates of inpatient admissions in the County. It was also noted that West Kent had a higher suicide rate than the national average and that the category of people most at risk were 35-55 year old white males and that only half of these had been in contact with mental health services. There were also clear links between other diseases and serious mental health issues and mental illness also had an impact on recovery from physical illnesses. Expenditure on mental health services in West Kent was £171 per person, broadly in line with the national level of spend and 63% of this was spent with NHS organisations and 37% with other organisations.

Ms Mookherjee explained the initiatives being carried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Attending: Ashley Scarff, Associate Director of Strategy & Planning, Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

Ashley Scarff, Associate Director of Strategy & Planning from Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, provided an update on the development of Pembury Hospital and the provision of maternity services at the hospital. Mr Scarff explained that the project had come together during the last 6 years and that the new hospital provided ground breaking facilities to replace the out-dated facilities at the old Pembury hospital and the Kent & Sussex hospital. The physical transformation of the hospital had been accompanied by substantial service reconfiguration and changes to clinical care pathways. The development had cost £216m and involved the provision of 513 beds. All rooms were single rooms with en-suite facilities which provided a much higher level of dignity for patients and better infection control.  As a PFI scheme the contract ensured that the physical condition of the hospital would be maintained to a very high standard. The hospital had been designed with patient well-being and safety as priorities and the focus was on minimising patient movement. Emergency and planned care had been separated which meant that planned treatments should not be cancelled as a result of emergency care priorities. Trauma and emergency care services had been consolidated at Pembury whilst complex and cancer surgery would be carried out at Maidstone but all other routine services were available at both hospitals. In terms of the services for women and children the importance of the single room environment and the facilities for parents to stay in the same room as their children was an important advantage and the hospital had a state of the art midwifery birthing centre and a paediatric short stay unit for emergency care. The hospital had adopted a system of minimising overnight admissions wherever possible by undertaking clinical assessment by a senior clinician and programming treatment. The hospital had been carefully designed so that types of service were consolidated in a single area and one end of the building was devoted to the care of Women and Children. The Committee saw photographs comparing the new neo-natal and high dependency units, and the wards and single rooms with the old units and Nightingale wards used in the past. The Trust had been very pleased with the success of the phased transfer of services into the new hospital which had begun in January 2011 and been completed in September 2011 and was particularly pleased about the popularity of the Women and Children’s unit.

The Chairman asked whether the Trust had a policy of prioritising local admissions to the maternity unit and also asked whether the services at Crowborough were under threat as this could add to the demand at Pembury. Mr Scarff explained that Crowborough came under a different area and that demand there tended to fluctuate. However it was important that the two facilities worked together and it was hoped that the new GP consortia proposals might help to break-down traditional boundaries. Admissions to Pembury were managed through the Community Admissions Team but there was no policy to prioritise  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Finance Manager presented a report which set out proposals for updates to the 2012/13 budget within the existing framework of the ten year budget and four year savings plan.  Service pressures were identified for Members’ information to be managed within the existing budget framework.  The report identified growth items outside of the current Financial Plan but it was noted that there were no growth items within the Committee’s remit. Additional savings for 2012/13 had been identified in services within the Committee’s area of responsibility amounting to £253,000. In terms of service pressures the one area of concern was CCTV where a shortfall of £30,000 had been identified from the projected income target of £50,000. The Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Community and Planning Services explained  that it had been hoped to grow income from operating the CCTV service but that this had not proved possible and that the police no longer made a financial contribution to this service. However the Council was currently in discussion with Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s about the provision of CCTV services and one option under consideration was to base these services at Sevenoaks which would bring in additional income.

Members noted that the CCTV service had assisted the Police in making 107 arrests during the last year and felt that the Police should be making a financial contribution towards a service that was clearly assisting them with their work. Members were advised that the Kent constabulary did not contribute funding to Council CCTV services and were unlikely to do so as they would have to do this for every council in Kent however the Police did pay rent to the Council for their services based at the Council’s offices. A Member asked how many of the arrests had resulted in convictions but was informed that this information was not available. The value of the CCTV service was also questioned as there were many areas in the District which were not covered.  The Committee debated whether the Police might be asked to contribute 16 man hours per week to the operation of the CCTV Control Room, the number of man hours cut last year, instead of a financial contribution. This would allow the Control Room to be manned on a 24/7 basis.

Resolved: That 

(1) if the Police are unable to contribute financially to the running of the Sevenoaks CCTV Control Room they should be asked to contribute 16 man hours per week (the number of hours cut last year) so that the CCTV Control Room can return to being open 24/7; and

(2) the Committee’s views on the 2012/13 Budget and Review of Service plans be communicated to the Cabinet to inform draft budget decisions to be made at its meeting on 8 December. 

Members noted the feedback from the visit to Sevenoaks Area MIND contained in the report attached to the minutes at Appendix A.

The Chairman informed Members that the Health Walk had been attended by 3 Members, 2 spouses and around 25 people in total and had been well organised. The Vice-Chairman’s report on the visit would be appended to the minutes (at Appendix B). 

Members noted the feedback from the visit to the CCTV Control Room included in the agenda and attached to the minutes (at Appendix C) which had helped to inform debate on the Review of Service Plans.

The Chairman advised Members that the South East Ambulance Service had extended an invitation for two Members to visit their service on 10 November. It was agreed that Councillors Raikes and Eyre would attend and that Councillor Eyre would prepare a report on the visit for the next meeting.

The programme of visitors for future meetings was noted. Consideration would be given to whether the next meeting could take place at a Sencio Leisure Centre and incorporate a visit to sheltered accommodation. It was agreed that it would not be necessary to invite Mandy Wynne, Deputy Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Within Kent to the next meeting in view of the other speakers attending but that a separate meeting could be organised with a couple of the members of the Committee to discuss transport issues for reporting back.

Members also suggested that fewer presentations should be scheduled for future meetings and that the duration of presentations should be shorter.   

The Head of Community Development briefly reminded the Committee of the work being undertaken by the Council which supported the work carried out by the NHS and organisations such as MIND which had been outlined by the visitors earlier in the meeting.  This included Suicide Prevention Workshops for frontline workers, health walks and the Up and Running programme, aimed at those suffering from depression. All of these were funded by the Primary Care Trust. The Community Safety work focussing on domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour had an impact on mental health. The intrinsic value of volunteering also had a positive effect on mental health and this was supported through the Council’s Community Grant Scheme.