Question
"The "Together - Wokingham Your Way" service - (which supported people in Wokingham Borough who were recovering from mental illness in the community, individually or in groups,) has had its service ended prematurely.
What interim service is there in place now to replace it, manage the impact of its closure and to avoid any risks to those in need of the withdrawn service, and how is the "saved" allocated budget being used to provide alternative services to those who need them now?
I understand that there is an aspiration for a mental health Recovery College in Wokingham Borough and that it is hoped to be opened in September 2018. This will provide recovery services, though not the one to one support provided by Wokingham Your Way. September is a long way off, and there are no guarantees that September will see the Recovery College opening. On opening it will inevitably need to build up slowly, so a full service will not all be immediately available then.
I am very concerned that those existing clients of Wokingham Your Way will be required to travel further (I understand Reading Your Way has an interim role until June) and new people may fall through the gap and not receive a service at all. I am aware that people are currently in distress and struggling following the closure of Wokingham Your Way and would like to be able to let them know what support is available to them.
Minutes:
Question
"The "Together - Wokingham Your Way" service - (which supported people in Wokingham Borough who were recovering from mental illness in the community, individually or in groups,) has had its service ended prematurely.
What interim service is there in place now to replace it, manage the impact of its closure and to avoid any risks to those in need of the withdrawn service, and how is the "saved" allocated budget being used to provide alternative services to those who need them now?
I understand that there is an aspiration for a mental health Recovery College in Wokingham Borough and that it is hoped to be opened in September 2018. This will provide recovery services, though not the one to one support provided by Wokingham Your Way. September is a long way off, and there are no guarantees that September will see the Recovery College opening. On opening it will inevitably need to build up slowly, so a full service will not all be immediately available then.
I am very concerned that those existing clients of Wokingham Your Way will be required to travel further (I understand Reading Your Way has an interim role until June) and new people may fall through the gap and not receive a service at all. I am aware that people are currently in distress and struggling following the closure of Wokingham Your Way and would like to be able to let them know what support is available to them.
Answer:
Because it is quite a complex, wide ranging question, I have broken it down to four categories.
Q1. "The "Together - Wokingham Your Way" service - (which supported people in Wokingham Borough who were recovering from mental illness in the community, individually or in groups,) has had its service ended prematurely.
1. WBC Response
The mental health recovery, day support and outreach service was commissioned in 2016 via a competitive tender process. The contract was awarded to Together for Mental Wellbeing (Together) and the service, named Wokingham Your Way, commenced on 1 November 2016 for a period of one year until 31st October 2017 with a possible extension of up to one year.
The service was established and it became apparent around June 2017 that the service had not been meeting the targets of 75% of service provision, as set out in the service specification.
Consequently, the People Commissioning team worked with Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) and Together and in October 2017 we had an agreed service improvement plan with the provider in place. Shortly after this, Together issued notice to terminate the contract having decided they could not continue, even with the full support of Wokingham Borough Council.
Whilst the contract for the ‘Wokingham Your Way’ service ended on 12 January 2018, we awarded a contract to Together via ‘Reading Your Way’ to continue to deliver a service from 15 January. Although this is a reduced service, customers are still able to access support via group sessions and 1.1 support. This arrangement is being reviewed regularly and will be amended as appropriate in response to local needs if needs escalate.
Q2. What interim service is there in place now to replace it, manage the impact of its closure and to avoid any risks to those in need of the withdrawn service, and how is the "saved" allocated budget being used to provide alternative services to those who need them now?
Q2 WBC Response
A series of exit meetings were set up between Together, People Commissioning and CMHT to agree the move on plan for each individual who was accessing the service and ensure a safe way to exit from the support of the Together service. During the course of these meetings, a short term proposal for CMHT to spot purchase support from the Reading Your Way office in order to allow the support groups to continue as well as some 1:1 support was put forward. CMHT reviewed this and accepted the proposal as a safe and viable option. Customers were consulted about the changes, the reasons for them and their view on the temporary service.
A short term contract has been awarded to Together via the Reading Your Way service with effect from 15 January for a 5 month period with a 3 month extension, dependant on success and need.
The contract permits CMHT to spot purchase up to 10 hours per week for a named support worker to deliver group sessions and 1:1 support as required. As a result of the consultation with customers we know that the groups were important to them, so the groups have continued.
I am running out of time so I have time for one more response and I have a hard copy here that I can give you.
Q3 I understand that there is an aspiration for a mental health Recovery College in Wokingham Borough and that it is hoped to be opened in September 2018. This will provide recovery services, though not the one to one support provided by Wokingham Your Way. September is a long way off, and there are no guarantees that September will see the Recovery College opening. On opening it will inevitably need to build up slowly, so a full service will not all be immediately available then.
Q3 WBC Response
One key area of consideration is the establishment of a community Recovery College to focus on emotional, educational and physical needs and teach skills to regulate good mental health and further research will be carried out in the spring. CMHT have explored extensively various models of Recovery Colleges. A Recovery College can be structured in a way that suits the needs of our residents, so if 1:1 is identified as a need this can be built in. The current arrangement with Together has the option to be extended if needed, with the possibility of this phasing out as the new Recovery College launches. People Commissioning and the CMHT are working closely in order to develop a proposal for the new service. Customers, carer and families’ feedback and input will be key to developing and shaping these proposals and further consultation events will be held.
Supplementary Question:
My concern is around this gap that is currently occurring because people who were accessing Wokingham Your Way have come to let me know that they have not been provided with a service and their mental health needs are quite significant, they cannot leave their home for instance so they possibly were not part of the various meetings that were held. The person in particular that I am thinking of says that the only thing that he can see is to access the Optalis jobs support scheme, but he is not well enough for that yet and his service has been cut. I do not know what to say to him.
Supplementary Answer:
Naturally I cannot comment on an individual case of that nature which has been brought to my attention for the first time. The Officers have assured me that they have been working on the exit strategy with all of the previous users of the service, and if there is someone whose needs have not been met and may have fallen between the gaps then if you let me know the information then I will ensure that it is forwarded to the Team Managers to follow up on that. I am sure that we will have a bespoke response on that. The intention is to make sure that no user suffers detriment as a result.