Agenda item

The Committee considered a joint Report of Corporate Director of Adults and Health Services and Director of Transformation and Partnerships that provided an update on the progress made against the recommendations from the review of Self Harm by Young People (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Committee were advised of work with St. Cuthbert’s Hospice to provide a bereavement service to children and of the work done with secondary schools to improve mental health and wellbeing.

Mrs Swift asked what plans were being proposed for primary schools and was informed that LSCB had been helpful in that discussion and that residential nurses were working with schools separately.

The Chairman was informed that the parent support groups were based in the North and South of the County.  Details would be provided following the meeting.  She added that whilst undertaking the review a group of parents had said that they valued the support and being able to share experiences with other parents.

Councillor Reed asked if there was still a service available in Consett called For Real.  The Specialty Registrar in Public Health said that although he had not heard of it he would look into whether it was still in existence.  The Chairman added that this could be part of the CAMHS service and believed that there was also a similar service at Newton Aycliffe. The Head of Early Help, Assessment & Safeguarding said that this service became part of the Lifeline project for Adults and Children but the whole contract had now been moved to a new provider.

The Head of Early Help, Assessment & Safeguarding referred to an excellent service at Waddington Street for young people ran by young people.  It provided excellent peer support and it was hoped to incorporate this service into an overall plan.  The Specialty Registrar referred to a further service provided by the Wellbeing for Life team of Men’s Cree’s.  This service provided a variety of classes and support.

Mr Conlon referred to the two waiting lists at CAMHS and asked if self harm was classed as urgent or non-urgent.  The Speciality Registrar believed that each case was dealt with on an individual basis. He added that the Locate website showed where services were available with peer support.

Miss Ashcroft queried if there were services for children and young people to access on their own as a place of compilation as a method of stopping self harm and was advised that services were available to signpost children and young people to various groups.  Peer Support was also available via Minded and there was specific information available in relation to suicide.

Referring to the take up of training by secondary schools Councillor Charlton indicated that this could be that the schools had to pay for the training and not all of them could afford to do so.  She was concerned that this left a lot of children vulnerable and requested more information on the costs for training.  The Speciality Registrar in Public Health advised that he would find out the information regarding costs and circulate it to members of the committee  The Chairman pointed out that this was one of the recommendations from the review.

Mrs Swift commented that it was important to learn how to communicate effectively using various apps on social media, as this was how young people communicated.  The Chairman said that young people had said during the review that they preferred talking to their peers rather than teachers and adults.

Further to this Mr Conlon suggested that certain lessons at school could help to address the issue.  He felt that it would help to reach people and de-stigmatise the matter.  The Speciality Registrar said that the review tried to address this and sessions led by specialist nurses were aimed at year 9 pupils.  The nurses were specifically trained in mental health and the sessions were designed to give young people the skills needed to help themselves and others.  Mr Conlon enquired as to how many schools were involved and was advised that the pilot was for 7 schools and would be offered to all schools next year.

Councillor Jopling asked if there was an element of prevention to nip problems in the bud rather than issues building up to self harm, drugs and alcohol.  The Speciality Registrar advised that there was evidence to support that and was available in schools where assessments were carried out.

Mr Conlon asked if people running sessions in schools looked out for warning signs and was advised that when someone was identified as an immediate risk they would be referred for further help and support.  The Specialist Registrar added that nurses would use their training and judgement as to whether to escalate to other services.

The Chairman thanked the Specialist Registrar for the update.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.