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Agenda item

Mental Health Services in Bridgend

Minutes:

The Head of Adult Social Care presented a report that provided information to the Committee on the range of services across the County Borough.

 

She explained to Members the population of people with mental health problems in Bridgend and Wales and provided statistics. She explained that in Wales, 1 in 4 adults will experience some kind of mental health problem or illness within their lifetime and 2 in 100 people will have a severe mental illness such as Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder.

 

She also explained that in Bridgend the population assessment indicated that there will be an increase in the prevalence of dementia. The population of older adults 65+ is predicted to increase by 48% 2030.

 

She explained the adult mental health service provision and the current model for mental health services in Bridgend. Key components of the current model are included in the report.

 

She advised Members on the new Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) Service in Bridgend. She explained that the AMHPs are professionals who had been approved by the local authority to carry out certain duties under the Mental Health Act.

 

She also advised Members on the review of the Mental Health Social Work team where they aimed to better utilise resources to focus on key issues like provision of information, advice and assistance, prevention and early intervention and partnership working. She advised that this proposal was currently in the consultation phase.

 

The Locality Manager for Bridgend Mental Health and Learning Disability Services advised Members of the Local Authority Provision for supporting children and young people with mental health. He explained that the local authority employed seven school-based counsellors, two community counsellors and a play therapist, all of which are British Association of Counsellors Psychotherapists (BACP) registered. He explained that there was a minimum standard that had to be achieved to become qualified and that there are minimum supervision levels and continuous professional development requirements to maintain registration.

 

He explained the training that was accessible to officers, which included a wide range of organisations. He advised that further training was also rolled out on a wider scale when grant funding was available. He gave the example of Thrive training, which provided key school staff with the skills understanding to manage the emotional development of children and vulnerable children which disruptive/troubling behaviour.

 

The Representative from ABMU gave Members an update on CAHMS and the performance and strategic direction. She explained that in January 2018, it saw a significant decrease in waiting times and this trend continued for five months. However in May, performance started to reduce, which correlated with staff leaving and the delays that related to advertising and filling these posts. She commented on the ongoing boundary change from ABMU to Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and said that they were looking to integrate the smaller teams into fewer but bigger teams, however they said they would need to wait until the boundary change is underway before implementing this idea.

 

A Member asked what training is provided for teachers as they are often the first point of contact for a child.

 

The Representative from ABMU said that training can be requested from a teacher if they believe they are the best person to deal with a situation. She said that they were hoping to improve this area of intervention as she agreed a teacher is likely to be the child’s best option for point of contact.

 

The Locality Manager for Bridgend Mental Health and Learning Disability Services added that there was also training provided online which covers a range of topics that could better equip teachers to deal with children’s issues.

 

The Leader stated that while there were still improvements to be made in some areas, the progress made has been considerable and he wanted to personally thank the ABMU for their hard work.

 

RESOLVED: that the Cabinet Committee Equalities noted the contents of the report.

Supporting documents:

 

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