Report of Strategic Director of Children and Education Services, Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding, Manchester Health and Care Commissioning and Director of Population Health and Wellbeing

This report provides an overview of work that is being done and work that is plannedto improve the experience and outcomes of those young people moving from children and young people services to adult services and to improve the experience for their families and carers too.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Children and Education Services, Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding, Manchester

Health and Care Commissioning and the Director of Population Health and Wellbeing that provided an overview of work that was being done and work that was plannedto improve the experience and outcomes of those young people moving from children and young people services to adult services and to improve the experience for their families and carers too.

The Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding referred to the main points of the report which were: -

·                Describing the services for children and young people and the developments that brought together children and adult social workers under the same management, based in the same team;

·                Describing the impact of The Care Act 2014 and the changes that this brought about;

·                Describing the 4+1 review process and the strengths and challenges identified and what was being done to address these;

·                The work undertaken around the transition from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to Adult Mental Health Services (AMHS) and Complex Placements;

·                Work delivered around young people’s specialist substance misuse services and the integration of the Eclypse service into the wider integrated adult drug and alcohol service that has afforded the opportunity to develop the approach to supporting young adults who may require treatment beyond the age of 18; and

·                Information on reproductive and sexual health services for young people.

Members commented that it needed to be recognised that the transition from services could be a very stressful and worrying period for those in receipt of services, their families and carers and everything should be done to make this transition as seamless as possible. The Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing said this was acknowledged and understood and the approach adopted was a holistic one. She further commented that she was committed to working with her Executive colleagues to improve transiton.

In response to comments from Members regarding Learning Disables citizens the Director of Adult Services said that a lot of work had been undertaken by the Assistant Executive Member to better integrate services. She said that this work had been overseen by the Learning Disability Partnership Board and that a report on this activity would be reported to the Committee at an appropriate time.

The Assistant Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing commented upon the work undertaken with teams to improve the transition period with the various teams working much more closely together. She further commented that the workshops that had been arranged to consider this area of work had included parents and carers so that their opinions and experiences were captured. A Member asked that Members be invited to any workshops so they could observe the work that undertaken. The Member further commented that when an update report was submitted for consideration that this would include anonymous case studies.

The Executive Member for Children’s Services commented that whilst he recognised the improvements described, he acknowledged that more needed to be done and that he was committed to working with colleagues to achieve this. He described that transition needed to reviewed in a broad sense to ensure that no individual ‘fell through the gaps’ when they reached a certain age. 

A Member commented that many services had different age eligibility criteria that made transitions difficult to navigate, especially for those individuals with complex needs. The Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding acknowledged this comment and advised that services operated within a legislative framework that did not always integrate together, however the ambition was to deliver an all age service that removes barriers.

The Director of Adult Services said that the lessons learnt and good practice adopted in other authorities would be adapted to meet the needs of Manchester residents with an emphasis on collaborative working. She further commented that the voice of the service user and their families was included in the design and commissioning of services.

In response to a request for further information on CAHMS the Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding said that a report was being considered by the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee that afternoon and recommended that this report be circulated to the Committee for information. A Member commented that where appropriate scrutiny committees should work together to jointly scrutinise those areas, such as CAHMS that cut across the remit of both committees. The Chair noted this comment and advised the Members that he would discuss this at the next scrutiny coordination meeting.

In response to a question regarding autism the Executive Director of Nursing and Safeguarding said that a working group had been established to review autism services with the view to refresh the Autism Strategy. He said this work was currently at an early stage and that a report would be provided to the Committee on this activity at an appropriate time.

Decision

The Committee notes the report and request that a progress report is submitted for consideration in six months’ time.