Issue - meetings

Maria Kane, Chief Executive of BEH MHT introduced the paper.  Key points noted include:

• The proposed closure of Downhills Ward and the handling of the proposal was the impetus for updating the guidance.

• The working group which was set up with the Adults and Health Scrutiny Panel following the Special meeting in November was very constructive and reached a consensus on the way forward.

• The outcome of the working group is that Downhills Ward and Finsbury Ward will remain open, and Haringey Ward will now close.  Downhills and Finsbury Ward will be combined Assessment and Treatment Wards.

• These changes are interim and will be in place til the site is redeveloped.

• Maria thanked the working group for their input.

The Communicating Change Guidance needed to be strengthened both in governance arrangements and in the policy.

Changes to services now need to be signed off my a Executive Director.  However, this does not negate the need for stakeholder engagement.

The Guidance is due to be signed off next week and will then be circulated to Managers and Clinical Directors.

The Guidance will also be re-launched across the Trust and discussed at Team meetings.

In response to a question Maria informed the Panel that the paper is Guidance, but that staff are expected to adhere to it and that sanctions would be in place for those who don’t adhere to it.  The policy/governance aspect of it is that any changes must be signed off at Executive Director level.

Comments from the Panel included:

·        There is a need for a more robust statement on getting buy-in from the voluntary & community sector, service users, carers groups and staff at the start of the document.

·        The expectation should be that there is two way communication between the MHT and service users, voluntary and community groups, carers etc and that this should be both engagement and listening to what each group has to say.

·        The Panel noted that they were impressed with the cooperaton of the MHT through the working group and that changes were made based on the input of the working group.

·        The Mental Health Support Association raised the role of Non Executive Directors in the process and were informed by the MHT that the role of the Board would be added to the document for clarification.

Agreed

·        The MHT would include the role of the Board in the Communicating Change Guidance.

·        The importance of getting buy in from service users, the voluntary and community sector, carers and staff would be strengthed to emphasise that communication and engagement is a two way process.