Agenda item

Briefing note of the Interim Director of Public Health and Wellbeing, report from Warwick University and presentation from Coventry University

The following representatives have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item:

Dr Diane Phimister, Coventry University Group Lead for Mental Health

Vickie Rybinski, Coventry University Mental Health Advisor

Dr Hannah Friend, Director of Wellbeing & Safeguarding, University of Warwick

Esther Meininger, Head of Wellbeing Support, University of Warwick

Eleanor Cappell, Community Mental Health Transformation Programme Lead, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust

Marie Nicholls, General Manager, Community Mental Health, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust

The Board considered a briefing note of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing which provided an update to the Board on the progress made on the recommendations of the scrutiny review undertaken on suicide prevention and the subsequent task and finish group report on mental health support for students. The note also updated on the implementation of the Coventry and Warwickshire community mental health transformation programme 2021-2024.

Dr Diane Phimister and Vickie Rybinski, Coventry University, Esther Meininger, University of Warwick and Eleanor Cappell, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust, attended the meeting for the consideration of this item and the Board received presentations from both universities regarding their mental health support for students and viewed a video on the NHS Community Mental Health Transformation.

The briefing note referred to the Coventry Suicide Prevention Strategy 2016-19 Forward Plan. In January 2020 the Health and Wellbeing Board reviewed the delivery of this strategy and approved a refreshed action plan for 2020-21. Reference was made to the funding secured from NHS England to respond to prevalence rates in the city and the most recent suicide data showed that the rates in Coventry dropped slightly from 2017–2019 at 10.6 per 100,000 (England 10.1) to 2018–2020 at 10 per 100,000 (England 10.4).

Legacy activity from the strategy and NHS England funding programme had now been devolved to the Coventry and Warwickshire suicide prevention steering groups. Local strategies, partnership arrangements and action plans were currently being reviewed. Consultation with the respective Coventry and Warwickshire suicide prevention multi agency steering groups during November and December 2021 identified that many of the partners were duplicating resources in both areas, consequently it was recommended that a single Coventry and Warwickshire Suicide Prevention Strategy be developed. Proposals for this joint strategy were outlined.

The briefing note referred to the student mental health support at Coventry University. Over the last 2 years the University had been part of a local system response set up to improve access to University, community, and NHS mental health support for students. The University implemented a Covid response and contributed to the delivery of mental health and suicide prevention plans across Coventry and Warwickshire. A health and wellbeing strategy and a recently refreshed mental health strategy drove the Universities approach. As part of this, the University had submitted a funding bid to the Office for Students last year to develop and expand culturally appropriate mental wellbeing support for international students and those from minority ethnic backgrounds (57% of the student population). Information was provided on the current wellbeing services which provided access to counsellors. Reference was made to the work of the team of mental health advisors.

The briefing note also highlighted the student mental health support at Warwick University referring to the recent restructuring of its wellbeing services to better meet needs which were implemented for the 2019-20 academic year. This investment in student wellbeing was £2.7m with the review and re-structure responded to feedback from students. The benefits of the restructure were detailed. In addition, a Wellbeing Strategy had been approval by the University Council on 20 May 2020. It was now in the second year of implementation and had a strong focus on Prevention and was published on the university website. The Board were informed that the average spend per student was approximately £90.

Information was provided on the POD Community Connections Project which was funded by NHS Charities Together. The project involves 1:1 intensive work by a dedicated worker with students (18-25) in secondary mental health services for up to 40 weeks, funded for 12 months from September 2021. The project had been effective because the officer sat within The Pod team so had a supportive professional infrastructure, a unique knowledge base, an established working relationship with sector experts, and authentic connection with the City. The impact and outcomes of the project were summarised.

The briefing note provided an update on the Coventry and Warwickshire Community Mental Health Transformation Programme, a ground-breaking, once in a generation transformation programme of Adult Community mental health services for the locality. Key principles were a new community-based offer to include greater access to psychological therapies, improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm and co-existing substance use, enabling individuals to have greater choice and control over their care, and to promote meaningful recovery. Key patient cohorts were those with a Severe and Enduring Mental Illness (SMI) who needed Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) and complex mental health difficulties associated with a diagnosis of ‘personality disorder’, mental health rehabilitation and adult eating disorder. The project outcomes were highlighted as follows: 

·  The new model would provide people with SMI with easier and faster access to services delivered at neighbourhood level by a range of partners across health, social care, and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE).

·  Access to care would be broadened, moving away from risk, diagnosis, and care clusters, to quicker access to interventions.

·  The model would be trauma informed.

·  Waiting access time standards would be established to aid and promote recovery.

·  People would not need to repeat their story as integrated care records would be core to the model.

Further information was provided on the partnership working and additional developments included in the programme.

The presentation for the representatives from Coventry University provided an overview of the student mental health support; highlighted progress with services that were commissioned with reference to other mental health services in the city (enabling pathways to be identified and transition between services smoother); set out additional training being given to academic and pastoral staff; informed about how admissions policies enabled the identification of existing mental health issues specifically as part of the admissions process to allow for the support to be provided; reported on the additional focus on international students’ mental health and wellbeing; and outlined how the findings of the Task and Finish Group were being reflected in the mental health and wellbeing strategies. Progress and examples were provided for each of these areas. 

The presentation from the representative from Warwick University provided a profile of the university; referred to the review, restructure and implementation of wellbeing services between 2018-2020; detailed the wellbeing strategy including strategic priorities; informed of prevention work as detailed in the safer suicide strategy and action plan; highlighted the support available to students; and provided additional information on the safer suicide strategy and action plan. 

Members questioned the representatives and officers on a number of issue and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Details about how the Universities could find out about the mental health of international students

·  What were the early signs to look out for indicating a student might be having problems

·  Were tutors trained to spot the warning signs

·  The causes of depression

·  What was the approximate percentage of students with mental health problems

·  How successful were the support measures in enabling students suffering with their mental health to complete their degrees

·  How did local GPs cope with the numbers of students experiencing mental health issues.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The proposal to develop a single Coventry and Warwickshire Suicide prevention strategy by the Autumn of 2022 be endorsed.

(2) The progress to date on the work to support student’s mental health led by Coventry and Warwick Universities, and supported by projects such as the PODs community connections for 18–25-year-olds in secondary mental health services be noted.

(3) The progress against the implementation of the community mental health transformation programme be noted.

(4) The contents of the presentations from Coventry and Warwick universities, and the video from CWPT be noted.