Independent Oversight and Assurance Group on Tayside’s Mental Health Services minutes: 13 December

Attendees and apologies

In attendance

• Fiona Lees, Chair
• David Williams, Member of the Oversight and Assurance Group
• Fraser McKinlay, Member of the Oversight and Assurance Group
• Grant Archibald, Chief Executive, NHS Tayside
• Phil Davison, Divisional Commander, Tayside, Police Scotland
• Thomas Glen, Chief Executive, Perth and Kinross Council
• Margo Williamson, Chief Executive, Angus Council
• Greg Colgan, Chief Executive, Dundee City Council

Secretariat

• Stephanie Cymber, Mental Health Division, Scottish Government
• Lawrence Jolley, Mental Health Division, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and acknowledged that, due to coronavirus restrictions, it had been changed at short notice from an in-person meeting to a virtual meeting.

The Chair confirmed that the intention is to hold future meetings in-person where possible, and subject to any future restrictions.

Minutes from the previous meeting

The minutes from the previous meeting on 16 November 2021 were agreed.

There was one matter arising in respect of the Terms of Reference for the Oversight Group which has no mention of Integration Joint Boards (IJBs). The Chair agreed to reflect and write to Tayside Executive Partnership (TEP) about this, in advance of the next meeting in January.

Implementation of the independent inquiry recommendations through Listen, Learn Change - review progress reports and discuss next steps

In introducing this agenda item, the Chair explained that the group, working with TEP and Scottish Government colleagues, should aim to get to a point at the end of January where there has been discussion on and review of all 51 recommendations and that the group is in a position to report as such to the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.

The TEP explained that colleagues in Mental Health (MH) services and the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) had evaluated and reassessed the 49 local recommendations and were in a position to provide information to the group, which was also given to David Strang, to evidence progress or remedial actions in place.

A multidisciplinary strategy group had also reviewed progress on recommendations which had resulted in several RAG ratings being updated.

There was a brief discussion about the Tayside Mental Health Leadership Gathering in November through Columba 1400 which focused on how the TEP worked together. The exercise to review progress on delivering the recommendations was used as an example during the weekend with further reflection and challenge following afterwards, in advance of today’s meeting. Colleagues spoke positively about the leadership gathering and the Oversight Group welcomed the commitment demonstrated by the TEP.

There was a detailed discussion about progress on the following recommendations:

• integration - recommendations 5 and 9
• engagement - recommendations 3,4,8 and 34
• patient safety - recommendations 11, 17, 23, 30 and 31
• workforce - recommendations 10, 18, 27 and 42
• culture - recommendations 1 and 21

The Chair committed to follow this up by capturing the discussion on these recommendations in writing to the TEP before the end of the year.

It was agreed that that the recommendations relating to children and young people’s mental health services (33, 34, 35, 36, 38 and 39) would be discussed at the next meeting in January 2022.

The Chair also committed to write to the TEP before the end of the year with feedback from the group on the recommendations that had not yet been discussed in detail. This is with a view to establishing an agreed Assessment of Progress in January, which will serve as a baseline from which assurance can be taken and support provided as everyone moves forward together.

Communication and stakeholder engagement

It was advised that the Oversight Group had met with members of the Stakeholder Participation Group earlier that day. There was a discussion about the key points arising from that meeting and about what engagement the TEP has had with the Stakeholder Participation Group.

The Chair reiterated the group’s intention to meet with wider stakeholders in Tayside, including Third Sector partners, and prompted the TEP to consider this and provide suggestions to the group.

The Chair also issued a reminder that, as discussed at the previous meeting (16 November), the group are keen for more information to understand how the TEP are fostering these relationships and supporting stakeholder organisations to grow and mature. Any strategy or policy work in this respect should be shared with the group.

Update on 2022 meeting dates

It was agreed that meetings between the Oversight Group and the TEP should continue on a monthly basis for the first quarter of 2022. The frequency thereafter will be reviewed in April 2022. This is in line with the Terms of the Reference for the group which will also formally be reviewed in April.

It was noted that the Secretariat would be in touch with the TEP shortly to confirm the January, February and March meeting dates.

AOB

No points for discussion were raised under AOB.

The Chair thanked attendees for their time and brought the meeting to a close.