We have still not had any more news about Direct Payments and breaks – the Partnership Board will ask the Council for an update.

The Partnership Board discussed:

• lack of attendance from representatives for GP, 5 Boroughs, local authority and voluntary sector. Several items couldn’t be discussed in detail because their representatives weren’t there to provide up to date information
• Assertive Outreach team changes
• Veterans mental health and service provision including self help groups in Manchester and the STEPS project in Warrington
• Older People’s Mental Health – following the end of the Older People’s Partnership Board, this will now be discussed at the MH Board
• Consultations – the PCT will be consulting on older people’s, acute care, psychological therapies – this is on behalf of the PCT, and will be done by Halton And St Helens VCA.
• 5 Boroughs will be consulting on their Acute Care Pathway
• CQUIN targets – will be distributed
• Crisis service recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny and the action plan
• Social Inclusion Network as a task group of  the Partnership Board
• Bridgewater update (This is the new name for Community Health Services)
• Updates from the IAPT work and Open Mind
• Notices to emphasise sources of support around suicide

Young Carers asked about the self help groups and we talked about Oasis, the Peer Support Network, Women’s group and No Secrets.

• Dreams group – Contact Tony and Dave for more information. The group is on hold until more people come forward. (Speak to them or one of the volunteers at Oasis)
•  Walking group – speak to Oasis volunteers for more information.

St Helens Council – Crisis team scrutiny report

LINk will be following this up. There are 11 recommendations which cover a wide range of organizations including 5 Boroughs, GPs and the police. The report is available on the Council’s website (www.sthelens.gov.uk )

News from the Partnership Board – May 17^th

Denise and Kim attended the meeting. They took the questions from the group:

1. We asked about the Birmingham ruling outside the meeting, and were told that it was different circumstances.
2. Changes to Carers Break funding – If the person being supported does not receive services from 5 Boroughs, their carer can get Carers Break support from the Carers Centre, but cannot access funding through John Edwards.
3. Lack of respite for carers in St Helens – They asked if we had evidence of need for respite. They said there may be some places such as Avondale, Greengate or Sherdley Court who could offer a transition bed.

News from groups:

“NO SECRETS” is here to support those affected by self injury/self harm to come forward and get the help they need and deserve.  We are a friendly group and our aim is to raise awareness of self injury, break down the stigma surrounding self injury, and offer support to people like us, who are affected by self injury.

Many people use self injury/self harm as a way of coping with very difficult emotions, and most do not tell anybody about it. People shouldn’t be afraid of talking about self injury: it’s nothing to be ashamed of and it should be taken seriously.

We’ve now got 3 groups – in St Helens (Wednesdays at 6-8pm at the Millennium Centre, Bickerstaffe St), Halton (every Friday 2-4pm at St John’s on Alforde St, Widnes) and Wigan (Wednesdays 6-8pm Platt Bridge Community Zone, Ribble Road, Wigan).

If you, or somebody you know, needs help please contact “NO SECRETS” for support. (see website for details at http://nosecrets.moonfruit.com )

Matthew Avenue group meets from 1-3pm on Friday afternoons – this is a Mind group so you need to get a referral from Mind.

St.Helens Mind is hosting a Fundraising Quiz Night at Heath Park Lodge on Wednesday 29^th June from 7.30 pm. For just £5 you can enjoy a quiz with cash prizes and a free prize bingo. Soft drinks and snacks will be provided but you can also take your own alcoholic drinks. Tickets are available by calling 01744 677058 or emailing sthelmind@yahoo.com.

10am – 12 noon Peer Support Network – focuses on recovery and actively supporting each other United Reformed Church Mon May 16^th

9.30 – 12 noon Oasis group – drop in with various activities including bingo United Reformed Church Tues May 17^th

1pm – 3pm Mental Health Forum – for people who want to improve services for mental health United Reformed Church Monday May 23^rd

9.30 – 12 noon Oasis group

  United Reformed Church Thursday May 26^th

10am – 12 noon Peer Support Network

  United Reformed Church Monday 30^th May

BANK HOLIDAY

NO Oasis group session Remember to organise prescriptions early.
]]> http://sthelensmhforum.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/meeting-dates/feed/ 0 sthelensmhforum http://sthelensmhforum.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/oasis-funding/ http://sthelensmhforum.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/oasis-funding/#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:57:26 +0000 sthelensmhforum http://sthelensmhforum.wordpress.com/?p=236 ]]> St Helens Council have agreed to pay the rent for 2011/12 and the Group’s management committee are meeting regularly to make sure the recent uncertainty doesn’t happen again.

We thank St Helens Council for their support.

Lynn described the Partnership Board. This was formerly known as the LIT or Local Implementation Team. There are now different Boards for different conditions. They are a place where everyone including the Primary Care Trust (PCT), Local authority (St Helens Council), the big providers (such as 5 Boroughs) and service users and carers can discuss local service provision. This needs to consider national changes and guidelines.

Currently, the Health Bill has been in the media. It has been controversial and wide reaching. Lynn gave a presentation to the Partnership Board in February. Since then there has been a ‘pause’ for a 3 months listening period. Within providers, this is just a delay of 3 months – the Strategic Health Authorities will still end in 2012. The NHS still has to save £20bn.

People asked about the current news about the Acute Trust – the hospitals. This has been in the papers recently. Lynn said they had no formal information about the changes.

No health without mental health is the name of the new mental health strategy. It is a cross government strategy and covers all ages, and prevention and promotion. It is also all ages.

There are 6 shared objectives in this broad and high level strategy. The whole strategy works towards these -

1. More people will have good mental health
2. More people with mental health problems will recover
3. More people with mental health problems will have good physical health
4. More people will have a positive experience of care and support
5. Fewer people will suffer avoidable harm
6. Fewer people will experience stigma and discrimination

The strategy is outcomes focussed so they will no longer commission for activity (outputs). They emphasise that they want to –

• build resilience, social capital and wellbeing
• Promote mental health and wellbeing
• challenge inequalities
• promote early intervention (this is around the importance of catching things early for example by working with GPs, or providing debt advice on prescription. It is separate from the Early Intervention team.)

The new approach is localised with local decision making. There will be local consultations. Lynn described that there will soon be 3 consultations –

• acute service provision – 5 Boroughs
• access to services – PCT
• psychological services – IAPT

The key documents are all available online:

• the white paper
• healthy lives
• capable communities and active citizens

Lynn suggested that we invite John Edwards to speak to us about capable communities

There is a ministerial advisory group to identify actions and advise on indicators which will deliver

• national measure of wellbeing
• early intervention for all ages
• life course approach
• tackle health inequalities
• stigma and discrimination

By 2014 there will be

• better pathways for mental health
• committed funding for veterans
• recovery pilots (ImROC project)
• publish a series of reviews of evidence on improving public health
• review of health visitors and school nurses
• Royal College to advance GP commissioning comsortia
• DH and DWP looking at return to work
• new suicide prevention strategy in 2011

GP Commissioning

Lynn briefly described GP commissioning and suggested we invite representatives to meet with us.

The interest in mental health is variable across the GPs. There are 3 consortia across Halton & St Helens. Stealth and United League are the two in St Helens.

On the ground, initially things won’t change much.

Lynn apologised several times that her presentation was dry. We all agreed that it is important to be aware of these important changes to services. Service users and carers have the experience of how things are working in reality at the moment. Services need to listen to our opinions when they change services so that it will be change for the better.

To find the complete document and easy read version online, go to

http://www.dh.gov.uk/

and search for ‘no health without mental health”

The document is only available electronically.

Feedback from the Partnership Board (March – no meeting in April)

• Direct Payments  John Edwards will look at the time taken to process payments and will report back to the Partnership Board. If you are experiencing delays please let us know.
• IAPT (Improving access to psychological therapies) IAPT is available for people in steps 2 and 3 of the stepped care model, and psychological therapy is provided by the Enhanced Day Therapy service for people in secondary services.
• Carers Services At the time of the partnership board meeting, there was still a lot of uncertainty about services for this year. This has now been resolved, although it represents a 50% cut in funding for the carers service provided by together (see the carers mailout).
• Funding for Oasis This has now been resolved. St Helens Council have funded the rent for 2011/12 and the Group’s management committee are meeting regularly to make sure the recent uncertainty doesn’t happen again. We thank St Helens Council.
• Payment by Results  This is the new way that services will get paid – depending on clinical outcomes rather than their activity.

New projects

• Insight group – David/Tony are still interested in developing this – please contact them if you are interested in finding out more.
• Walks – David is looking for other people to help him organise walks to take place on the 1^st Tuesday of each month – please contact him to get involved.

Mental health and debt guide

Martin Lewis – the money saving expert who is often on TV – has a very good booklet which is supported by both Mind and rethink, two of the main national charities for mental health. It is available to download free at

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/mental-health-guide

The mailout of the notes includes dates of all the meetings over the Bank Holiday weekends – contact the groups or support workers or the Forum for more information.

• Peter fed back that groups are struggling with numbers and funding.
• General feeling from Forum members that people are anxious about their personal situation (housing, benefits, support). Also that a local project has required weekly attendance which has affected existing groups.
• Phoenix Art group is now for older people (not mental health) and meets in Haydock
• Some groups, including the Peer Support Network and women’s group, are going very well with increased numbers and referrals from the Social Inclusion Team
• Feeling that the more successful groups offer a structure and activities, and are helped by pro-active volunteers

Direct Payments

• Several members reporting long delays after applying for direct payments (currently still waiting for a decision after 2 months).
• Also describing a lot of bureaucracy and multiple forms to fill
• Request for someone from Direct Payments to attend the Forum meeting in May
• Also queries for more information about Personal Health Budgets

New projects

• Insight group – David/Tony are developing a poster for the new group
• Walks – David will organize walks to take place on the 1^st Tuesday of each month – meet 1pm at the URC – open to all – a short stroll around town / to local parks – to help build confidence and encourage people to get out.
• Holidays – some members asked about organized holidays. It was felt that this is too ambitious for most members at the moment and people want something accessible (geography and timing).

Walk and talk

We organized this walk to support the new time to change campaign “time to talk”, which encourages people to talk about mental health problems. See www.time-to-change.org.uk

LIT

Karen (carers) and Sam (forum) are unable to attend the meeting.

4 members (Denise, Kim, Jaqui and Barry) have agreed to attend tomorrow’s LIT as observers and representatives for the Forum and the Carers group.

The issues they will take to the Forum / Carers feedback slot are:

• Direct Payments – concern over length of time to get a decision
• Oasis group – worry about the funding ending on March 28^th
• IAPT – a question about what is happening with this now and whether it is accessible from secondary care
• Carers services – why was the service provided by together not funded, and how will individuals and groups be supported.

The new campaign ‘It’s time to talk. It’s time to change’ aims to address the awkwardness people feel in talking about mental health problems, and get people talking about mental health.

The main message is ‘A few small words can make a big difference. Don’t be afraid to talk about mental health.’

The Oasis group meets every Monday morning at the United Reformed Church, King St, St Helens and is open to everyone. Volunteers run various activities including bingo and quizes, and there is plenty of time for a coffee and a chat. They can also tell you about other groups in the Borough, including the Forum, Peer Support Network and the women’s group.

Karen Machin, Chair of St Helens Mental Health Forum, is also a national advisor to the campaign. She said, “We have to challenge the stigma that prevents people from seeking help from their friends and colleagues.”

Whether it’s fear or awkwardness about talking to someone we know about their mental health problem – or talking about our own mental health problem, reluctance to talk about mental health isn’t good for anyone. Talking openly about mental health takes the taboo out of something that affects us all.

Next meeting is March 17^th

ALL WELCOME

The group discussed doing a photography project to highlight what Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is used for. This fits in with our priorities :

• cuts
• money including benefits
• projects of our own

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is reviewing DLA and proposing an alternative called PIP – for Personal Independence Payment. We are concerned that the proposals do not take into account people with fluctuating conditions (as for many mental health conditions). They also proposed to end the mobility payments for people living in residential care, but this is currently on hold.

Many people don’t understand DLA or what it is for. For example, people worry that they will lose this payment if they get a job. This should not happen. It is supposed to help people to cover the additional costs of their disability – so it can be used to cover the additional costs of getting to work for example. There is no guidance on what you should spend your DLA on.

We have agreed to develop a small project, to illustrate what DLA is used for. We have linked in with Hayley, the manager at Making Space’s home in Rainhill, who will encourage her residents to take part. Denise will take the project to Oasis members. We hope to show the photographs in a project being run by Mash Gallery.

Spirituality

Tony and David talked about the Insight group, which used to meet several years ago in the Friends Meeting House. People valued this meeting, where people talked about different ways of thinking around mental health including holistic therapies and dreams. They would like to start the group up again and will design a poster to circulate to other groups. They hope to start meeting at the URC in the forum room in a few weeks. Do get in touch if you would like more information.

Representation at meetings

After a discussion, everyone agreed that, if there are problems concerning our forum representatives at any meeting, the representative and the Forum need an explanation so that we can all learn.  The Forum members elect our representatives. If there are problems, we need to know and understand them so that we can move forwards.

St Helens LIT – mental health partnership board 16^th February
This was the first meeting with a new board solely from St Helens. Previous meetings had been joint with Halton. New terms of reference were agreed. We went through the new mental health strategy, ‘no health without mental health’ and had an update on how things are in St Helens.
There needs to be a decision on a Chair for the Partnership Board. Commissioners asked for service user views. Please let us know your views at the Forum meeting.

1. CUTS – we all recognize that the year ahead is bringing many financial challenges to service providers.We are particularly concerned about the future for self help groups. We insist our Oasis drop in group remains open. This group has had fantastic results for people – many people have passed through the group over the year and have moved on, with some doing part time work now. We want to make sure this group continues.

   We are also worried about the loss of support worker services. People need a prompt and supportive service which can help with a range of needs including accommodation and finances.

   Suggested speakers:

   • Our MPs, Dave Watts and Shaun Woodward
   • Local authority (St Helens Council) representatives – Cllr Joe Pearson and Marie Rimmer
   • Representatives from GP commissioning
2. MONEY INCLUDING BENEFITS, WORK – We worry about changes to benefits and money problems. We would also like to hear how local employers are being positive about people with mental health problems.Suggested speakers:
   • General talk from the Job Centre
   • Personal money management
3. ACCESS TO SERVICES – people are finding it difficult to access a range of services including alternative therapies.
   Suggested speakers:
   • Open Mind – access to all mental health services
   • Crisis services – access to crisis services for everyone including people already in services
   • Alternative treatments available locally
4. PROJECTS – we are keen to run our own projects. We suggested a range including:
   • World mental health day (we are organizing another arts exhibition – this time in Mash)
   • Peer Support Network (see dates below)
   • Stigma and discrimination (linking into national and local campaigns)
   • Projects for sports (football) and arts (exhibitions, workshops)
   • Café, shop

Throughout all the above, we agreed that we need to link in with local media – perhaps reviving the MediaWatch group.