Cross Party Group on Mental Health & Eating Disorders
Thursday 19th February
Hybrid (Senedd & Teams)
In attendance:
|
Julie Morgan MS |
Welsh Labour |
|
Simon Jones |
Mind Cymru (presenting) |
|
Jo Whitfield |
BEAT (presenting) |
|
Sarah Wilson |
Mind Cymru |
|
Bethan Phillips |
Mind Cymru |
|
Nia Sinclair |
Mind Cymru |
|
Jemma Wray |
Mental Health Foundation |
|
Keith Bowen |
Samaritans |
|
Rhodri James |
Platfform |
|
Dafydd Huw |
RC Psych |
|
Nick Horn |
BCUHB |
|
Annabelle Llanes Sierra |
CIPD |
|
Rachel Suff |
CIPD |
|
Carol Harris |
Stori |
|
Valerie Billingham |
Older People’s Commissioner for Wales |
|
Meg Moss |
National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society |
|
Nicola Gray |
Swansea University |
|
Dean Cawsey |
Adferiad |
|
Jason Cockings |
Adferiad |
|
Helen Pritchard |
BCUHB |
|
Naomi Swift |
CVUHB |
|
Natalie Chetwynd |
HDUHB |
|
Vicky Burrow |
ABUHB |
|
Sarah Jones |
BCHUB |
|
Amy Crossley-Lewis |
CTMUHB |
|
Sarah Tombs |
CTMUHB |
|
Tamsin Speight |
NHS Wales |
|
Katherine Pyke |
CVUHB |
|
Darren Griffiths |
SBUHB |
|
Carol Harris |
Stori |
|
Chloe Olds |
|
|
Emily Hoskins |
|
|
Martin Ball |
|
|
Georgia Taylor |
|
|
James Downs |
|
|
|
|
Apologies:
|
Mark Isherwood MS |
Welsh Conservatives |
|
Llyr Gruffydd MS |
Plaid Cymru |
|
Delyth Jewell MS |
Plaid Cymru |
|
Peredur Griffiths MS |
Plaid Cymru |
|
Mike Hedges MS |
Welsh Labour |
|
Helen Missen |
|
|
Manon Lewis |
|
|
Karen Morgan James |
PTHB |
|
Hajer Newman |
EYST |
|
Angie Darlington |
West Wales Action for Mental health |
|
Linsey Imms |
Wales TUC |
|
Steve Mulligan |
BACP |
|
Richard Jones |
Mental Health Matters |
1. Welcome and Introduction
Julie Morgan MS welcomed everyone to the second meeting of the Cross-Party Group for Mental Health and Eating Disorders. She reminded attendees to take care and to step away if they needed to take a break given the subject area of today’s meeting.
2. Presentation: Simon Jones: Raising the Standard/Codi’r Safon, Experiences of mental health inpatient care in Wales
Simon Jones delivered a presentation on Mind’s Cymru’s 2024 Raising the Standard report, which shares information on the state of inpatient mental health care in Wales.
He referred to Mind’s initial campaign developed in England which shared cases around poor management and treatment of inpatients. Given the similarities with the issues raised in Wales, Mind Cymru gathered information from HIW reports as well as evidence through FOIs to the health boards to initially produce a report around the use of restrictive practices in Wales. However, the data for restrictive practice varied considerably and was deemed unreliable for this purpose, and it was decided to use the information to share a broader understanding of the state of inpatient care across Wales.
He noted the following key challenges (as included in the report);
- Impact of a stretched workforce and staffing difficulties across health boards
- Issues around the quality of the buildings and maintenance.
- Lack of consideration of other details beyond recovery (e.g. housing, education) in patients’ care and treatment plans.
- Inconsistent data relating to use of restrictive practices in Wales.
- Concerns regarding staff training on use of restrictive practice.
- Varying use of face-down restrictive practice across health boards (some health boards reporting high numbers, and others saying they do not use that method).
He referred to ‘Seni’s Law’ (the Mental Health Units (Use of Force Bill) passed by UK Government in November 2018 as a result of the death of Olaseni Lewis and queried whether this law applies to Wales given only NHS England is noted in the details. He confirmed that Mind Cymru has previously raised this issue with Welsh Government.
He summarised the report recommendations as; increasing investment in inpatient care in Wales, providing greater support to the workforce through capacity and training, developing robust data collection, and strengthening the programme around care and treatment planning.
3. Discussion:
Julie Morgan MS thanked Simon for his presentation and invited questions and observations from the group.
Vicky Burrow - Cardiff and the Vale UHB
Noted her own lived experience of inpatient care and agreed with the need to develop and improve the system around care and treatment planning. Queried what a ‘good quality’ document might look like in practice.
James Downs – Lived Experience of inpatient care
Shared his own experience of never seeing his personal care and treatment plan. Suggested that the patient must be included in its design to make it a more usable document. Opportunity to get more people involved to improve a patient’s recovery plan.
Simon agreed that patients must be more involved in the planning to feel supported and empowered but noted that patients and others must be involved at the right points in its development, given that a person from the health system may not always be the best person to plan a patient’s ongoing care.
Nicola Gray – Swansea University
Noted that health boards are focused on mental health assessments and staff are not trained in psycho-social need and suicide prevention. Highlighted this as an area to be addressed. Referred to the gap between what policy says and what is actually happening, noting that everything impacts mental health, and everything should be co-produced effectively, which is something that is not currently happening.
Nick Horn – BCUHB
Queried whether a more bureaucratic process in care and treatment planning would really make a difference. What are we looking to achieve to support people and noted there being a lack of understanding around why people continue to re-access services.
Amy Crossley-Lewis – Clinical Lead and CAMHS Psychologist
Noted that the number of beds for eating disorder patients in adults has declined, yet beds in CAMHS provision for children and young people has doubled.
Georgia Taylor – Lived Experience
Shared her experience of having an eating disorder which worsened on a psychiatric ward which she was moved to due a lack of beds. Added that some of the symptoms she experienced were not specific to her condition. Queried what funding is being put in place to ensure Welsh patients are not being let down.
Jason Cockings – Adferiad
Referred to the support offer from the third sector, and the need for a more joined-up and collaborative approach so that the third sector can support and alleviate pressure on the NHS. Recognised that time does not always allow opportunities for a multi-sector approach but emphasised this as an area to be tackled to ensure there is adequate space and time to support people as best as possible.
Simon Jones – Mind Cymru
Noted that high numbers of care and treatment plans are too generic and that a cultural shift is needed in terms of how we think about mental health. There is a need to move towards a system which is focussed on prevention and early intervention, which considers all social drivers not solely mental health need. Confirmed that Mind Cymru has called for a review on the Mental Health Measure to explore whether duties could be extended to include other aspects of life.
Noted the discussion needed within the workforce around trauma-informed care to ensure both patients and staff feel supported, particularly with use of restrictive practice which might occasionally be necessary. Confirmed that Mind Cymru recently gave evidence on the proposed Mental Health Bill, advising to extend restrictive practice legislation to Wales.
Julie Morgan MS thanked everyone for a useful discussion and invited Simon Jones to share questions to take forward to Welsh Government – both oral and written questions – on restrictive practice law in Wales.
ACTION: Simon to share questions with Julie Morgan MS.
4. Update: Jo Whitfield - Eating Disorder Awareness Week
Jo Whitfield highlighted the opportunity to raise awareness of eating disorders during the week of 24 February – 4 March. She invited attendees to share messaging and content on their social media platforms with information guidance available on the website – https://edaw.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
She noted the objective of the week as an opportunity to target the general public, confirming that the campaign’s aims and messaging were developed alongside a group of lived experience volunteers.
She referred to the survey held between December 2024 and January 2025 to gather wider public experiences of eating disorders which received 1,900 responses.
Julie Morgan MS confirmed that a note on Eating Disorders Awareness Week had been passed to the Presiding Officer for potential selection and mention at the Senedd.
5. Next steps and Close
Julie Morgan MS gave the closing remarks. She invited attendees to bring forward pieces of work to shape the agenda of future meetings. Welcomed good examples of effective and positive practices, adding that the group is not only focused on looking at the challenges.
Amy-Crossley Lewis suggested bringing information on a pilot scheme being set up by the Eating Disorder Outreach Services (EDOS) to the next meeting. This was agreed.
ACTION – any further agenda items for the group to be shared with the secretariat (Mind Cymru & BEAT).
Meeting closed at 11.00am