A presentation for the national elected member seminar on mental health (The Local Government Mental Health Challenge), 11th October 2016, outlining the work being done in Hertfordshire

1. www.hertsdirect.org
Population Mental Health
Elected Members and Officers working
together: Hertfordshire’s story
Prof Jim McManus,
Director of Public Health, Hertfordshire County Council
Jim.mcmanus@hertfordshire.gov.uk
October 11th
2016
National Mental Health Elected Member Seminar

2. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Why?
• Economic Issue
• Population Health Issue
• Employers’ Obligations
• Employee Engagement
• Preventive Agenda
• Skills Agenda
• Productivity and Employee relations – the
Psychological Contract

3. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Elected Member Leadership
• Crucial – Teresa Heritage, Championed
• Officer Team – Piers Simey, Consultant
• You can do some things without money
• Our four year story
1. Laying the Foundations
2. Moving on specific Projects
3. Year of Mental Health
4. Moving now towards whole system

4. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
1. Laying the Foundations (2013-2015)
• Needs Assessment / JSNA
• Audits
• Priority areas of work established
– Children
– Self harm
– Adults
– workplace

5. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
2. Progress on Foundations (2014-2016)
• Needs Assessment / JSNA
• Audits
• Priority areas of work
– Children – CAMHS Review and £2m, 35
projects (PH Led)
– Self harm – among 35 projects (PH led)
– Adults – new strategy (Commissioner led)
– Workplace – 1,000 champions (PH Led)
– Suicide Prevention Plan – PH Led

6. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Some of what Public Health Achieved
• 1,000 Mental Health Champions
• Workstreams for Childrens
• Mental Health First Aid training to front line
professionals who work with young people.
• comprehensive
mental health needs assessment through UCL
partners,
• Suicide prevention plan
• Working on Crisis Care Concordat
• Articulated the whole system work

7. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
District Councils
• Over 127 different projects run by ten district
councils with county council public health
funding
• Over 30 mental health projects
• St Albans – social prescribing pilot with GPs for
mental health
• Every district has at least one MH project

8. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Herts Public Health
Employers’ Offer
• Free training and
services to Herts
Employers
• 1000 MH Champions
in workplaces trained
Continues till 2017

9. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
3. The Year of Mental
Health
• The Hertfordshire Health & Wellbeing Board declared the period between its
annual conferences July 2015 and July 2016 the Hertfordshire Year of
Mental Health.
• A countrywide initiative intended to:
– Tackle mental health stigma and discrimination
– Help people get better access to treatment and care
– Gain parity of access to treatment for both mental and physical
health
• Hertfordshire Year of Mental Health soughtto inspire and motivate people
from across the county to take a few simple steps to help challenge mental
health discrimination, and to improve the lives of those of us with mental
health problems.
• Everyone in Hertfordshire can help create a society where mental health
problems are not hidden.

10. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
The Year of Mental Health
July 2015-July 2016
• https://youtu.be/yuSZuBgFJ7g

11. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Elected Member
Leadership
• 14 Member Champions
• 510 Pledges to the Year of
Mental Health
• Newsletter
• 12 Mental Health Focused
Events
• 53 new partnerships with
grassroot through to large
scale Mental Health
focused organisations

12. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Key Highlights
• Themed activities for each month with focused activity: Veteran Mental
Health GP engagement, Suicide Prevention Training and Youth Mental
Health Training
• Legacy of the Year of Mental Health through a Mental Health Directory
and Network
• Member Champion Mental Health Bite Size Briefing
• Year of Mental Health newsletter (monthly release)
• Year of Mental Health engagement with a range of events including :
‘Feel Good February, Health and Wellbeing Board Stakeholder Events,
Hertfordshire Dementia Conference, Carers in Herts Community Events.
• Dementia Film Screening of ‘Inside Out of Mind’ to 170 delegates
including practitioners and community representatives.

13. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
4. Getting to a Systems Approach...
• Report to health and wellbeing board kicking off
a programme and articulating system must dos
• Find the report here Item 4
• https://cmis.hertfordshire.gov.uk/hertfordshire/C
alendarofcouncilmeetings/tabid/70/ctl/ViewMeeti
ngPublic/mid/397/Meeting/605/Committee/13/S
electedTab/Documents/Default.aspx

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Heroes....2015 and 2016

17. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk

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Mental Health Member Champion Training
17 member champions attended mental
health training at Hertfordshire County
Hall on the 9th
May.

19. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Dementia Film Screening ‘Inside Out of Mind’
Collaborative working between HCC,
The University of Hertfordshire,
practitioners and our community.

20. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
• The Hertfordshire Mental Health Strategy
• Online Directory
What next?

21. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Themes of the Mental Health Strategy
1. Listening and responding to service users and carers
2. Early and fair access to diagnosis, treatment and
support
3. Valuing mental and physical health equally
4. Preventing and responding to crisis
5. From recovery to independence

22. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk

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Some Tools
• St Albans Strategic
Partnership is the
FIRST to pilot the
Partnership “top tips”
for Employers

24. www.hertfordshire.gov.uk
Thank you
• Jim.mcmanus@hertfordshire.gov.uk
• Public Health Pages
• www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/healthinherts
• JSNA
• http://jsna.hertslis.org/