Agenda item

(To receive a report from Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), which provides the Committee with information on the Home Treatment Team, as well as engagement and consultation responses on the permanent closure of Rochford Ward, Pilgrim Hospital, Boston.  Jane Marshall, Director of Strategy, People and Partnerships, LPFT will be in attendance for this item)

The Chairman invited the following presenters from Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT): Jane Marshall, Director of Strategy, People and Partnerships, Eve Baird, Associate Director of Operations (Specialist Service Division), Dawn Parker, Quality Lead (Older Adult and Frailty Division) and Steve Roberts, Associate Director of Operations (Older Adult and Frailty Division), to remotely present the report to the Committee.

The Committee was advised of the background behind the establishment of the Older Adult Services Home Treatment Team (in October 2018) as a county-wide pilot providing a community facing service to older adult patients with functional mental illness who would otherwise have been admitted to Brant Ward, Lincoln, which at the time was being refurbished.  It was noted that when the Brant Ward re-opened, the Home Treat Team continued, with the service being funded by the temporary closure of Rochford Ward, Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, as this ward was not fit for purpose and required capital investment. 

Pages 65 to 70 of the report provided: Details of the Home Treatment service; the purpose of the consultation; and supporting information.  It was reported that engagement events had been carried out by LPFT during the last three years, with events taking place at a variety of locations across Lincolnshire and more lately on-line due to Covid-19 restrictions.  A full list of engagements events were detailed in Appendix A to the report.   

In conclusion, the Committee was asked to consider the information presented on the Older Adult Services Home Treatment Team and the engagement and consultation responses of the proposed closure of Rochford Ward at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston.

During discussion, the following points were raised:

·       The future of Rochford Ward, Pilgrim Hospital Boston.  The Committee was advised that as mentioned in the report the Rochford Ward was not fit for purpose, and would be returned to United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.  The Committee was advised further that investment was had been made in Boston at the Norton Lea Mental Health Hub, which would be providing new purposely built accommodation;

·       Some concern was expressed regarding care being provided to dementia patients at home.  There was recognition that dementia was a complex area, as levels of need changed.  It was highlighted that before the introduction of the Home Treatment Team that had been a gap in provision, now with the Home Treatment Team there was a continuous care pathway with a greater level of service, with all cases being appropriately managed;

·       The relationship between the Home Treatment Team and the Community Mental Health Team and whether the Home Treatment Team just provided support to the elderly.  The Committee was advised that older adults with dementia would receive support from the older people mental health team. The Home Treatment Team supported dementia patients' needs if escalated to high risk whether the patient was living in the community or having been admitted as an inpatient.  The Committee noted that the Home Treatment Team worked alongside the Community Mental Health Team.  As older people services all sat in the same division, this allowed for the care pathway continuing accommodating the needs of the patient.  It was highlighted that the pilot had shown that 90% of patients could remain in their own homes;

·       Whether families had a single point of contact.  The Committee noted that when a patient was referred into the service they were allocated a Care Co-ordinator who would be the main point of contact for families;

·       Respite care provision.  The Committee noted that carers were supported and each carer had a communication plan, which the whole family had input into.  It was highlighted that the issue of respite was currently being reviewed;

·       Page 70 of the report in the section on agreement from the majority, what the response was to the comment that there needs to be a continued home treatment care, but with an ever increasing elderly population without the replacement of the Rochford Ward, would the service be able to meet the demand.  The Committee was advised that the service had seen a massive reduction in the number of individuals requiring admission.  There was an acceptance that over the next 20 years the elderly population numbers would increase and that all these factors would be taken into account to ensure there were more in-patient beds were available to meet demand. The Committee noted that at the moment two wards were in operation and steps were underway to opening the Manthorpe Centre; and

·       The view of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was on the proposed closure of the Rochford Ward.  The Committee was advised that the CCG was supportive of the proposed closure.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee extended his thanks to the presenters.

RESOLVED

1.    That the information presented on the Older Adult Mental Health Services Home Treatment Team be noted.

2.    That support be given to the proposal from Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to make the closure of Rochford Ward at Pilgrim Hospital permanent, with the continuation of the Home Treatment Service, and a recommendation to the Trust that it continues to monitor the demand for older in-patient beds, particularly from the east of the county.