To receive representatives from Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, providing Members with an update in respect of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and other key work of the Board.
Minutes:
The Chairman of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Professor Marcus Longley thanked RCT Council for inviting the Board members to address Full Council. He paid tribute to the staff at the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council for their commitment and dedication over the last 15 months coping with the pressures of work.
Through the aid of Power point slides the Chief Executive of the Cwm Taf University Health Board., Mr Paul Mears, presented an overview of key matters under the following headings:
Ø Covid update – Response to Covid Update
An update on three key matters, testing, vaccinations and Covid rehabilitation
Ø Elective recovery programme
Details in respect of the Planned Care Recovery and Urgent Care Improvement Programmes
Ø Primary Care focus
Emphasis on a number of key areas such as the adoption of e-consult and the proposal for a ‘Flow Centre’ known as ‘to navigate callers to NHS 111.
Ø Maternity & Neonatal services
An update on the Maternity and Neonatal Improvement Programme and continued close working with the Independent Maternity Services Oversight Panel (IMSOP)
There followed a further Power Point presentation in respect of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg CAMHS, specifically regarding how the service has progressed over the past year and consideration of the challenges ahead, including the partnership work with the Local Authorities.
Ø CAMHS in CTM
Ø New Investment 2021/22
To include an update on both WG and ICF funding
Ø Key Improvements – Early Intervention
Renewed focus on joint working opportunities and building relationships with partner agencies
Ø Key Improvements – Covid
Maintaining the service throughout Covid and ongoing face to face Crisis services 7 days a week
Ø Key Improvements – CAMHS
An update on the single point of access provision, staffing and service redesign
Ø Future Vision & Plans
An overview of future plans to include the need for continued rapid response and flexibility over the next 12-24 months and embedding new models and pathways.
The Leader of the Council
County Borough Councillor A Morgan thanked members of Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB for their attendance and updates on the CAMHS and wider issues. He suggested that further update sessions would be arranged to address issues around Covid recovery and Primary care services such as elective surgery. The Leader acknowledged that the CAMH service has previously been under pressure and with the return to full time education he envisaged that the support would be greatly needed.
The Leader asked whether there are still vacancies and pressures on staff and how is recruitment to the service?
Councillor P Jarman – Leader of the Opposition
Councillor Jarman highlighted the need for the CAMHS service and asked how many children are on the CAMHS waiting list?
Is there a similar arrangement in RCT to that in Merthyr Tydfil where ophthalmic services have recently been supplemented by an arrangement with Specsavers and the Trust?
Councillor M Powell – Leader of the RCT Independent Group
Councillor Powell asked whether the high rates of Covid referred to In the presentation represented a move upwards on the curve?
The planned care has had an injection of £16M and queried whether that is enough?
How many members of staff have returned to the EU and left Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB and how is the Board filling those vacancies?
Is the lack of a Minor Injuries Unit in Pontypridd/Taff Ely having an impact on the Royal Glamorgan Hospital?
Ambulance figures-can you provide an update on the data?
Responses were provided as follows:
· Vacancies with the CAMH service – Currently there are no issues with recruitment with the use of a variety of backgrounds such as social workers and therapists and good relationships with partners
· Services within Schools- Services are tailored to individual areas and discussions with schools and social services determine the packages of support dovetails with the local authority support
· Waiting list – at the moment there are 170 young people waiting for CAMHS in RCT and young people are being seen within 3 weeks. Demand has increased and this is expected to remain so for some time.
· Opthomology - The Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB are working closely with high street optomotrists such as Specsavers to develop these services across the whole Health Board area with specific work on glycoma and seeing people outside of a hospital setting
· Covid rates – The current rates in RCT is 47 per 100,000 patients which shows there is an increase. The Wales average is 64.8 o under the average.
· Funding from WG – The message is that there will be more funding for elective operations but there is a finite number of people that can work in this area.
· Recruitment – Working closely with the University of South Wales and recruitment from overseas which is challenging due to current travel restrictions
· Minor Injuries Unit in Pontypridd – Looking at alternatives to A&E unit. Large numbers of healthcare issues in A&E which are more suited to a minor injury unit, this is being looked at
· Ambulance numbers- Interlinked with how quickly ambulance handovers can happen and how quickly they can return to emergency calls. Working jointly with colleagues in the Ambulance services
Further questions were put forward:
· Councillor T Leyshon – The waiting times for neurodevelopment assessments are 26 weeks. RCT are bringing in many initiatives to help reduce the waiting lists through offering their own services such as resilient families, which are masking the waiting lists.
· Councillor M Weaver - When will surgery for Orthopaedic patients be back to some normality?
· Councillor S Belzak – Why in respect of the vaccines has the principle of giving full consent been abandoned? Why aren’t people told about antibody dependent enhancements? That these substances are in clinical trial for the next few years, that there have been more than 1,000 deaths so far, more deaths than in the previous 30 years from all vaccines, why aren’t patients being told?
· Councillor T Williams – I have concerns about the waiting times for CAMHS;
· Councillor J Brencher- Do we have the same staffing challenges in the Princess of Wales Hospital as in the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and are we tackling the recruitment in Central London where the waiting time for Breast Cancer is less than a quarter than if you developed it in this area;
· Councillor D Owen-Jones – Are there plans to develop a unit in Bridgend for females rather than families having to travel further;
· Councillor L M Adams – CAMHS is failing our young people, the waiting lists are going up and children are ending up in hospital from incidents of self-harm.
Responses were provided by the Chief Executive, Mr Paul Mears and Kate Burton from the CAMHS team as follows:
· Historically there were long waiting times for CAMH services but now the average waiting time is 3 weeks, the longest any young person has to wait is 6 weeks;
· Neurodevelopmental services are managed by the Children and Young Peoples section of the Health Board not CAMHS but CAMHS are working closely with them to improve the service to reduce the waiting lists;
· Inpatient care for those young girls who need the highest level of support is provided at Ty Llidiard;
· There are significant numbers of patients and it will take a year or more to get the waiting lists back on track;
· There is no compulsion on people to have the vaccine, but the Health Board can answer any queries regarding the vaccine, and has been doing so throughout the process
· There are comparable staffing issues across all the sites currently;
· We are seeing a large volume of referrals into our Breast services, but the Health Board is looking to improve the service and create a central service to provide a much better and quicker access into the service.
The Chief Executive advised that should Members have any further queries or questions; they can forward them to the Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB for clarification and response.
The Presiding Officer thanked members of the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board for attending and providing the overview of services.