Issue - meetings

To receive an update from the Associate Director LD, NDD & ABI & East Relationship Management on CWP’s progress with service provision in the following two areas:

·         Mental health support for Military Veterans

·         Mental health support for children and adults with Eating Disorders

Maddy Lowry, Associate Director at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) NHS Foundation Trust attended the meeting via Microsoft Teams to update the Committee on the item of eating disorders and the work being carried out with veterans. 

The presentation began with a trauma trigger acknowledgement, in light of all the media coverage on the unfolding war between Russia and the Ukraine that this update was not a knee-jerk response but had been on the Work Programme for some time.

CWP became aware of the needs of veterans from those delivering front-line services and now have a dedicated intranet site for veterans and reservists.  There has been the development of a passport that enables raising of issues and the access of mental health services quickly.

CWP have linked with Operation Courage.  If someone needed an intensive offer outside the usual perimeters, CWP could refer to that person to specialist help and support.

CWP was now part of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) that encourages employers to support defence and inspire others to do the same.  The scheme encompasses bronze, silver and gold awards for employer organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community, and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant.

The Committee were advised that CWP would need formal accreditation to achieve the silver award, evidence would be submitted before July 2022 with a range of feedback from partners including within the submission.  The Committee asked to be kept up to date with progress on this matter.

In November 2021, CWP launched the Electronic Patient Record and were still in the early stages of data gathering.  The Committee requested that in the meantime, CWP submit short, recorded Digital Stories of patients and their lived experiences to showcase the patients and the patient journey directly to the Committee.

The Associate Director at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) NHS Foundation Trust then moved onto the Eating Disorders presentation update first with services for children then adults.

In terms of the national picture there had been significant increase in demand during the pandemic.  CWP were able to meet the increased demand, and was meeting national access targets, through enhancing the capacity with extra posts.

Across Cheshire East there were two community support service for children and young people presenting with an eating disorder with 1-week waiting times for emergency referral and 4-weeks for routine appointments.  After this stage, referrals moved to The Cheshire and Merseyside Adolescent Eating Disorder Service (CHEDS) for hospital avoidance.  The CHEDs service covered a broad range of complex eating disorders and the outpatient service was less disruptive to family life and less traumatic for patients sharing a ward with patients presenting complex mental health needs.

The Committee requested quantitive data to demonstrate the number of patients accessing services, success over time and referral trends specifically the journey for the child and family.

In terms of Adults with eating disorders this had been prioritised across Cheshire and Merseyside, there was the First  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31