Agenda item

Ian Ayres (Accountable Officer, NHS West Kent CCG) and Adam Wickings (Joint Chief Operating Officer, NHS West Kent CCG) were in attendance.

(1)       The Chair welcomed the guests to the Committee. Mr Ayres began by stating that the joint reprocurement of the Children and Young People’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service between the NHS and Kent County Council had been a positive step forward and could be used as a model for future commissioning. The NHS and KCC had worked with young people, parents and carers to develop a single strategy and service model which had been used to procure the new service; historically KCC and the NHS had commissioned services separately and there had been overlap.  

(2)       Mr Ayres explained that the new contract for Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services commenced on 1 September 2017 with services being delivered by North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT); the primary school public health service element of the contract was being delivered by Kent Community NHS Foundation Trust. He stated that a key aspect of the contract was the commissioning of a single point of access to provide advice, guidance and access to all services under the strategy. He reported that the contract mobilisation had gone well; there had been few complaints and hidden waiting lists, which had been discovered during mobilisation phase, were being dealt with.

(3)       A Member thanked Mr Ayres and the stakeholders for all their efforts in procuring the new service and requested an update in six months to provide assurance that the new service was working well.  Members asked about capacity, waiting lists, the number of providers who bid for the contract and the use of subcontractors. Mr Ayres stated that the new contract should have sufficient capacity to meet the demand and he would be able to provide an update in six months about how the contract was performing. He reported that the new provider was working rapidly with the previous provider to clear the waiting lists. Mr Ayres noted that there were a limited number of providers who were capable of delivering a Kent wide service and had not been expecting a large number of providers to bid for the contract. The new provider had a track record of delivering high quality and innovative services. Mr Ayres stated that a provider would need permission from the CCG to use a subcontractor and would only be granted after a due diligence process had been undertaken.

(4)       With regards to the new all age eating disorder service in Kent and Medway, Mr Ayres reported that the service was also being delivered by NELFT which provided opportunities to integrate services. A Member enquired if both services would be procured together in the future. Mr Ayres explained that the services had been historically been procured separately but if services were integrated and timelines aligned, it may be possible for an integrated service with a broader specification and scope to be reprocured in the future which the Committee would be kept informed about.

(5)       In response to specific questions about access to specialist services, Mr Ayres noted that as part of the new service model, services should be delivered as locally as possible but recognised that some treatments were so specialist they may require travel to access them. Mr Ayres committed to providing the Committee with the number of children and young people currently in an out-of-county placement and their distance from home; in addition to the number of all-age patients accessing eating disorder services in a residential unit.

(6)       Members commented about staff training, the single point of access and the provider’s financial position. Mr Ayres explained that the contract required the provider to train staff and he was confident that the provider would do this; staff training would be monitored through contract management.  Mr Ayres confirmed that the single point of access would be based in Kent and there were no concerns about the provider’s financial position.

(7)       RESOLVED that the reports on Children & Young People's Emotional Wellbeing & Mental Health Service and All Age Eating Disorder Service be noted and the CCG be invited to provide an update in six months.