Agenda and draft minutes

To be notified of the appointment of Substitute Members.

The following Substitute Members were noted:

Councillor J O’Shea for Councillor M Murphy.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

The following declarations of interest were noted:

Councillor Jane Shaw – declared a registerable personal interest in Item 5 as a Governor of CNTW Trust.

Councillor G Bell – declared a personal interest in Item 5 as he is in receipt of funding from the NHS.

To Confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2023.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2023 be agreed as a correct record.

To receive an update on:

·       the plan and progress of providing the North Tyneside ICB area with a crisis alternative in the form of a third-sector led Safehaven offer; and

·       Northumberland and North Tyneside Universal Crisis service, providing support to those presenting in a mental health crisis.

Report to follow.

The Sub-committee considered the report which provided an update on plans to provide the North Tyneside ICB area with a crisis alternative in the form of a third-sector led Safehaven offer.  The report also provided an update on Northumberland and North Tyneside Universal Crisis service, providing support to those presenting in a mental health crisis.

The sub-committee was advised that progress is being made towards opening a Safehaven space in Wallsend.  The necessary capital works are being funded via NHS England, with revenue funding provided by the ICB.  A third sector provider, Everyturn, is contracted to run the service for an interim period of 12 months.  There are also plans for a Safehaven service to be located in Newcastle and Northumberland.

The Safehaven service will aim to provide safe, high quality and flexible support to people experiencing mental health crisis. The service will provide a non-clinical urgent mental health service to people in mental health crisis as well as support for families and carers. 

It was noted that Healthwatch had been involved in creating an insights report on views, wants and needs of the local community for a safehaven crisis alternative offer.  The outcome of the insights report was taken on board in identifying Wallsend as a preferred location, and the operation of the service 7 days per week between the hours of 2pm and 10pm.

It was noted that the North Tyneside Safehaven will have two key support access routes:

·       A physical mental health safe haven space for people in North Tyneside who are experiencing a mental health crisis to access face to face support in a safe and non-clinical environment;

·       A telephone support option for people experiencing a mental health crisis who cannot or choose not to access the service in-person.

The Sub-committee was also provided with information about the Northumberland and North Tyneside Universal Crisis Team (UCT) which provides an ageless service to those presenting in a mental health crisis.  The support has three defined pathways:  young persons pathway, older persons pathway and working age adult pathway.

It was noted that the UCT operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no restrictions on referrers.  A referral can be made by contacting the 24/7 telephone number or text message service.

The team offer a telephone triage function, assessment, home based treatment, and carer support to those experiencing a mental health crisis.  The main focus of the service is to treat individuals in their home, where it is deemed safe to do so.

Members asked for clarification on the difference between urgent clinical mental health need and urgent non-clinical need.  It was noted that there are criteria to be met for accessing urgent clinic mental health services.  Urgent non-clinical need will cover issues that may impact on mental health but which may not meet the clinical criteria. 

Members welcomed the decision to base the Safehaven service in Wallsend as it was felt there are a lack of services in the area.  It was also suggested  ...  view the full minutes text for item C28/23

The Sub-committee considered the adult social care dashboard.

It was noted that the number of people waiting for packages had reduced dramatically and there had been an increase in the number of bids from providers for packages.  There will be a need to manage supply going forward to ensure that capacity issues do not arise if providers are not able to win packages.

Members asked if this was also the case for the North West of the Borough which had traditionally experienced more difficulties in receiving bids for packages and it was agreed that this information would be provided following the meeting.

The Sub-committee agreed to note the information contained in the dashboard.

To receive a verbal update on the work programme and to consider items for the next meeting.

It was noted that the following items were due to be considered at the next meeting of the sub-committee on 28 March 2024:

·       Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust Quality Account

·       Suicide Prevention