Mental Health related deaths

Noted (AI summary) The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledges concerns about ambulance response times by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST). They reference the 'Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services’ and describe general improvements in ambulance response times and handover delays.

Noted (AI summary) NHS England expresses condolences and outlines its commitment to improving community mental health services nationally, but states that responding to the specific concerns raised by the coroner is the remit of the named NHS Trust. They confirm the concerns have been shared with their national Mental Health Team and Regulation 28 Working Group. The Trust outlines actions taken and planned, including issuing additional guidance on managing suicide risk, sharing learning with the team, updating policies, and reminding staff of the need for communication amongst professionals involved in treatment.

Noted (AI summary) NHS England is implementing improvements to the CYMPH inpatient pathway, aiming to reduce out-of-area placements and move towards community-based care; they are also developing a national admission protocol for children and young people with multi-agency partners. The Department of Health and Social Care acknowledges the concerns and notes NHS England's response and approach to reduce reliance on inpatient mental health beds, moving towards community-based care.

Noted (AI summary) The Department of Health and Social Care outlines existing and planned initiatives to improve mental health support, including increased funding for community mental health services, expansion of NHS Talking Therapies, and investment in crisis care alternatives. They state that responsibility for staffing and operations of mental health services lies with the relevant trust.

Noted (AI summary) The ICB will work with primary care practices to ensure patients declined registration receive details on how to find and register with a GP and ensure practices are aware of the mental health single point of access. They will also work with CNWL to ensure mental health crisis information is available in surgery waiting areas and continue to work with 111 providers on the dedicated process for mental health due in Spring 2024. Red House Surgery states it was unable to register the patient due to their address being outside the practice catchment area, and this is practice policy. They assert they provided the mother with the number for the crisis centre, which is practice policy for anyone raising a mental health concern who cannot access a GP. CNWL will discuss the case in a Care Quality Improvement Forum meeting, cascade a learning leaflet to local GPs via the Primary Care Network (PCN) alliance, and supply posters to GP surgeries with information on how to access mental health services via the ED at MKUH. Nationally, NHS England are working with NHS 111 to create a dedicated process to access MH services due in April 2024.