Issue - meetings

That the progress of Mental Health Support Services be noted.

Prior to consideration of the report, Councillor Christine Jones took the opportunity to praise Rhian Evans (Team Manager, Mental Health Services) for her nomination in the Leadership Public Sector category of the Leading Wales awards.  She was delighted that Rhian’s exceptional work in Flintshire’s mental health services had been recognised, particularly in relation to Double Click.

The Chief Officer (Social Services) introduced the report which detailed progress on the three strands of Mental Health Support Services in response to Member requests.  In presenting the report, the Service Manager (Disability Services and Children’s Integrated Disability Services) explained that the three strands worked closely to support the recovery of individuals with mental health issues by building up their wellbeing and confidence.  She gave an overview of the range of support available from the Intensive Support Team, the Community Living Team & Medium Support Team and the Occupation & Employment Team.  She was pleased to report that in 2015/16, individual support goals had been fully or partly met for the vast majority of people supported by the service.  Information was also shared on the multi-agency team providing the Substance Misuse Service.

Following positive feedback given by the Chairman on the work of the Social Links team, the Service Manager spoke about well-established links with Health and third sector organisations.

Councillor Christine Jones said that the proactive work carried out by the small team in the Substance Misuse Service should be more widely recognised.

Councillor David Healey thanked officers for raising the important issues in the report and commended the Growing Places garden furniture restoration project.  He pointed out that he had not received a response to his question about the waiting list for Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) raised with Health representatives at the previous meeting.  Officers explained that the Health Board held funding for purchasing places on training courses.

Councillor Hilary McGuill asked about availability of support for dealing with the effects of ‘legal highs’.  The Service Manager advised that the team used a vehicle to enable a qualified social worker to target specific communities and offer advice and support where needed.  Councillor McGuill also felt it would be helpful if users of drop-in centres (such as Alcoholics Anonymous) and perhaps youth clubs could refer themselves to the service if they needed support.  The Service Manager agreed to take forward this suggestion for consideration and agreed to pass on the positive comments from three service users who had described the team’s support workers as their best friends.

Councillor Christine Jones said that the excellent DVD entitled ‘Sorted’ which dealt with cannabis misuse, would be circulated to schools and made available on the internet.

RESOLVED:

That the progress of Mental Health Support Services be noted.