Issue - items at meetings - Mental Health Reconfiguration: Update

27.1    This item was introduced by Richard Ford, Executive Commercial Director, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and by Margaret Cooney, Mental Health Commissioner, NHS Brighton & Hove.

27.2    Members were informed that local plans would focus on improving community mental health services. In particular, the Brighton & Hove Crisis  Resolution and Home Treatment team would be expanded; community services would increasingly be provided 7 days a week; staff training would be improved (in line with NICE best practice guidance); an ‘ageless’ service would be introduced (replacing the current ‘working age’ and ‘older people’ services); and care planning would be refreshed. These improvements to community services will reduce the demand for acute mental health beds and shorten stays for those who do need to be admitted to hospital, allowing the trust to reduce the number of beds it provides. Services for local people will remain local – e.g. city acute dementia beds will continue to be provided by the Nevill hospital.

27.3    In response to a question from Cllr Barnett about the future of the Nevill hospital, Dr Ford told members that care for older people with functional mental health problems, currently provided on the ground floor of the Nevill, would in future be provided at Mill View hospital as part of the trust’s move to providing an ‘ageless service’. A ward at Mill View would be designated for the care of ‘vulnerable’ patients, ensuring that no older person was inappropriately cared for alongside younger patients. The beds for older people with organic mental health conditions (e.g. dementia), currently situated on the first floor of the Nevill, would be re-sited on the ground floor, allowing easier patient access to the hospital garden etc.

27.4    In response to a question from Cllr Barnett about the number of community mental health staff employed by the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Ford told the committee that the trust had invested considerable sums in improving community services over recent years. The aim had to be to offer community services for all who needed them, and to reduce unacceptably long acute bed-stays. However, this required joined-up work with housing, as many people coming out of hospital require housing support. Whilst current plans might lead to staff reductions in some areas (via natural wastage rather than redundancy in almost all cases), in many other areas it would lead to increased staffing: the reconfiguration was fundamentally about improving services rather than cutting costs.

27.5    The Chairman thanked Dr Ford and Ms Cooney for their contributions.