Forensic Governance Advisory Group minutes: 29 January 2025

Attendees and apologies

Present

• Ms Esther Roberton (Chair)
• Dr Ian Dewar
• Mr Jim Cannon

In attendance

• Ms Jennifer Brady
• Ms Danielle McLeary

Items and actions

Welcome 

Officials welcomed Forensic Governance Advisory Group members to St Andrews House.

The Chair took the opportunity to give opening remarks and set the direction of the meeting advising that today’s discussions will focus on considering the way forward, taking into consideration potential governance options.

Stakeholder engagement 

The Chair gave an update on meetings that have taken place this week, including a visit to the State Hospital.

Stakeholder engagement to date has been extremely valuable in gaining a deeper understanding of forensic mental health services. The discussions have fostered open discussion where stakeholders have shared their insights, concerns and hopes, which has helped create a clearer picture of the current state of the service and potential areas for improvement.

The group reviewed the engagement plan. The Chair provided an update on upcoming meetings, including visits to 2 low secure units that are scheduled for February/March.

The group agreed to have a follow up visit with the Orchard Clinic. This was to compensate for staff sickness at the original meeting. This will allow the management team at Orchard Clinic to have the same level of input as the other medium secure facilities.

A summary of stakeholder engagement scheduled to date can be found at Annex A at the end of this minute.

Action 1: Stakeholder meetings and advisory group meetings to continue to be scheduled as part of the engagement plan.

Workshop session – options

The group members held a workshop session which aimed at assessing the options set out in the Terms of Reference (ToR). This created a space for the group to explore the advantages and disadvantages of each option, allowing assessment of their potential impact on forensic mental health services.

Whilst no governance option was agreed at this stage, this session allowed some in-depth discussion on potential outcomes and provided the group the opportunity to gain a clearer understanding of each option.  

Action 2: It was agreed that further discussion and engagement is needed to fully evaluate the options before moving forward with a preferred option.

Workshop session - case studies

The group looked at several anonymised patient case studies that had been created by Scottish Government. This allowed the group to test some of the governance options outlined in the ToR against examples that highlighted some of the issues/barriers patients are currently facing in forensic services.

This session allowed the group to gain some insight into what governance structure would be needed going forward. The group agreed it was important to  refer back to these case studies as this work continues.

Action 3: Group will begin to think of themes and headings for final report.

AOB and next meeting

The Chair drew the meeting to a close, thanking members for coming together in person for a productive discussion.

The next advisory group meeting will be scheduled for February.

Annex A - Stakeholder engagement

• 7 November 2024 - Psychiatrist and Professor of Law
• 13 November 2024 – Director of Mental Health (Scottish Government)
• 19 November 2024 - Principal Medical Officer (Scottish Government)
• 13 December 2024 – Forensic Network
• 18 December 2024 – Visit to Rohallion Medium Secure Care Clinic
• 19 December 2024 – Visit to Orchard Medium Secure Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital
• 7 January 2025 - Principal Medical Officers (Scottish Government) - rescheduled
• 9 January 2025 – Visit to Rowanbank Medium Secure Clinic, Stobhill Hospital
• 10 January 2025 – Health Planning (Scottish Government)
• 16 January 2025 – Forensic Allied Health Professions
• 28 January 2025 – Visit to The State Hospital
• 3 February 2025 – Mental Welfare Commission
• 4 February 2025 – Community Forensic Mental Health Team Leads
• 14 February 2025 – Voices of Experience (VoX)
• 20 February 2025 – Visit to Low Secure Beckford Lodge, Lanarkshire 
• 27 February 2025 – The State Hospital’s Board for Scotland
• 10 March 2025 – Forensic Clinical Psychology
• 20 March 2025– Follow up visit with Orchard Clinic management team.
• 24 March 2025 – Visit to Blair Unit, Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen
• 28 March 2025 – Royal College of Psychiatrists
• 2 April 2025 – Mental Health Officer Sub-Group
• Date TBC - Forensic Learning Disability Clinicians
• Date TBC – Low Secure Services