Agenda item

Resolved: The committee agreed to refer its views to Mayor and Cabinet and the Health and Wellbeing Board in the following terms:

1.    That the progress of the work on BAME Mental Health inequalities is set out, with clear timelines, responsibilities and proposed actions, in line with our commitments in the new corporate strategy, for both adults and children and young people.

2.    To hold a one-off joint meeting with the Children and Young People Select Committee before the summer recess to further consider the work being undertaken by the council to address BAME mental health inequalities; to receive evidence at this meeting on the progress of this work with clear timescales and proposed actions, on who is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the progress of this work at senior officer and cabinet level, and on whether there are any barriers to making quick progress; and to receive evidence at this meeting from the Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, and the Chair of the Health Wellbeing Board.

Kenneth Gregory (Joint Commissioning Lead, Adult Mental Health) introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

4.1       In July 2018, the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) decided that BAME health inequalities in Lewisham would be its priority area of focus and that mental health would be its first specific area of work.

4.2       A BAME mental health summit was held in October, which was attended by members of the BAME community, voluntary and community sector organisations and officers.

4.3       The event identified a number of key themes which it was felt needed to be addressed to make mental health services more attractive and relevant for BAME communities.

4.4       An externally facilitated workshop was subsequently held with HWB members and representatives from the Lewisham BME Network to discuss how to work together to improve services.

4.5       Officers then met with the BME Network Health lead to establish an approach to co-production and it was agreed that the BME Network would work with the Mental Health Provider Alliance.

4.6       The next step is to develop a programme plan on health inequalities and some of the other changes that can be made to improve access to services, people’s experiences and outcomes.

4.7       The Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board (CYPSPB) will be considering BME access to mental health services at their June meeting.

4.8       Some of the recommendations of a councillor-produced report on mental health inequalities in relation to children will be considered by the CYPSPB as part of their work on BAME health inequalities.

4.9       The committee noted that addressing BAME mental health inequalities is a corporate priority and commented that the scope of the council’s work in this area was still unclear. The committee requested more detail on the plans and specific actions in relation to this work.

4.10    It was noted that the council’s work on BAME health inequalities is a large-scale and ongoing piece of work. The council has done a lot of work to build trust and establish channels of communication with people and groups in the community and work has already started on how services can be improved based on feedback received so far.

Resolved: The committee agreed to refer its views to Mayor and Cabinet and the Health and Wellbeing Board in the following terms:

1.    That the progress of the work on BAME Mental Health inequalities is set out, with clear timelines, responsibilities and proposed actions, in line with our commitments in the new corporate strategy, for both adults and children and young people.

2.    To hold a one-off joint meeting with the Children and Young People Select Committee before the summer recess to further consider the work being undertaken by the council to address BAME mental health inequalities; to receive evidence at this meeting on the progress of this work with clear timescales and proposed actions, on who is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the progress of this work at senior officer and cabinet level, and on whether there are any barriers to making quick progress; and to receive evidence at this meeting from the Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, and the Chair of the Health Wellbeing Board.