Minutes of the Annual General meeting of Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership Trust Held at 12.00noon on 30 th September 2009 at the Black Country Museum, Dudley Present: Mr Glyn Shaw Mr Peter Hodnett Mr Daniel Byles Mrs Mandy Poonia Mr Gary Graham Mr Ian Baines Mrs Mandy Shanahan Mrs Wendy Pugh Dr W Conlon In attendance: Aaron Sangian Alison Geeson Marsha Ingram Jacky O Sullivan Angela Hill Angela Millward Anne Middleton Anne Preece Anne Thomas Carol Evans Chris Lyons Claire James Cllr C Ault Cllr S Ridney David Orme David Smithson Deborah Scott Debbie Bills Debbie Cooper Dorothy Louden Elaine Woodward Gerry Duffy Graeme Walsh Heidi Davies Howard Perrin Isabel Gillis Janice Maloney Julie Adams Chairman Chief Executive Director of Finance Director of Human Resources Director of Operations and Nursing Medical Director Scrutiny Officer, Dudley MBC Head of Nursing, Head of Corporate Affairs, Director of Performance and Strategy, Chair, SAMh PA, Member of the public Team Manager, Walsall College Member of the public Health & Safety Officer, Chair of Health Scrutiny Committee, Walsall MBC Chair of Health Scrutiny Committee, Dudley MBC Chair, Dudley LINK Mental Health Liaison Officer, West Midlands Fire Service Team Manager, Expert, Team Manager, Dudley College Mental Health Commissioning Lead, Dudley PCT Service Manager, Governance Team, Team Manager, Governor, DGoH Public Health Consultant, NHS Walsall Complaints Manager,
Julie Jones Jo Heffernan John Roden Lisa Psaras Mandie Rose Mary Bytheway Maxine Makin Naomi Jones Neil Tong Paul Bradley Paul Singh Phillip Hogarth Rachel Pearce Roy Dainty Sharon Grant Sheila Dixon Sophie Patterson Steve Foster Stuart McKay Tracy Hartle Trish Taylor Valerie Drew Yvonne Spencer (and husband) Clinical Lead, Consultant OT, Chair, Dudley Alzheimer s Society Dudley College PA, Head of Market Intelligence, Dudley LINK Dudley LINK Governance team, Equality and Diversity Manager, PIP Project Lead, Walsall College Head of IT, Black Country Housing Group Wolverhampton University PA, Dudley PCT 1. Welcome and Introduction 1.1 Glyn Shaw the Chairman of the Trust, welcomed everyone to the inaugural Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust. Glyn Shaw explained that the reporting period being considered during the meeting and within the Annual Report was the first six months of operation Oct 2008 to March 2009. However, the discussion at the meeting would also look to the future and the Trust s ambitions that include achieving making progress towards achieving Foundation Trust status. 2. Launch of the Annual Report 2.1 Gary Graham, Chief Executive stated that the last 12 months had been a tremendous start for Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust as a new organisation. Crucially, the Trust had continued to deliver business as usual as well as setting up brand new systems and processes to support the ongoing delivery of services. 2.2 The Trust s focus for this year has been to ensure the establishment of very solid foundations upon which to build the new organisation and the Annual Report represented a reflection of the work which has been carried out thus far, also looking forward to 2010/11 and future developments. 3. Presentation of Accounts 3.1 Ian Baines, Director of Finance presented the Annual Accounts.
He advised that the main points of the financial information were available in the Annual Report Summary and further information on the accounts could be found in the full Annual Report. 3.2 It was the duty of the Director of Finance to present to the AGM the statutory accounts, which had been prepared in accordance with the NHS financial regime and which had independently been audited. 3.3 Mr Baines was pleased to confirm that Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust had met all of its statutory targets for the first six months since 1 st October 2008. 3.4 Mr Baines went on to say that the initial six months of operation had been challenging as services across the two localities moved to a new independent financial regime for the newly formed Trust. Under these circumstances it was particularly commendable that the Trust was able to deliver a surplus of 202,000. 3.5 Mr Baines outlines the Auditors Local Evaluation (ALE); an independent and wide-ranging assessment of NHS Trusts financial governance and practice. The results of this form part of the use of resources element of the Annual Health Check rating, in which the Trust achieved a score of 2. This was the highest rating that Trust could possibly have achieved as a new organisation and therefore should be commended. 3.6 Mr Baines concluded by saying that the Trust had achieved a great deal in the first six months of operation. However, there remained a considerable amount of work to be done in the coming year to establish and maintain the financial performance of the new Trust and develop a flexible and robust financial strategy for the future. 4. Plans for the Future 4.1 Gary Graham, Chief Executive re-iterated the successes of the Trust in its first six months of operation, and went on to emphasise the importance of building upon this success for the future. A series of service-based Here and Now reviews were held at the end of 2008, which enabled the Trust to evaluate in depth all areas of service provision. In addition to this, the Trust had hosted a successful stakeholder event which enabled a wide range of participation and feedback about services to be gathered. 4.2 All of this information and feedback had already contributed to significant developments to mental health services. For example, a great deal of investment had been made in physical improvements to Walsall inpatient facilities and achieving accreditation for Older People s acute inpatient mental health services. 4.3 This valuable feedback and overview would enable the Trust to shape its Clinical and Social Care Vision the Trust s view of how services should develop over the next five years.
4.4 The Trust would continue to work closely with a range of Service Users and organisations on a regular basis and we will be developing a Trust wide Service User and Strategy which will ensure that User and views are at the heart of decision-making. 4.5 The Trust remained committed to working in close partnership with staff and recognised that staff are its most valuable asset. The Trust had already made significant progress in establishing new ways of engaging and communicating with staff, and plan to further develop this in the near future. 4.6 All plans for the future are key to ensuring the Trust deliver and provide flexible, high-quality services for patients. 5. Questions from the Public 5.1 Mrs Yvonne Spencer () raised concerns that the liaison service which used to cover Walsall Manor and Dorothy Pattison Hospital has now ceased due to a lack of funding. Mrs Spencer asked if this was likely to be continued in the near future. Wendy Pugh (Director of Operations and Nursing) explained that this exact model of liaison service could not be continued. However, the Trust would be considering how to best meet the needs of individuals requiring this type of service in a way which is financially sustainable. Gary Graham supported this and explained that the Trust would be encouraging different ways of working to ensure the services we provide remain effective. 5.2 Angela Hill Chair of SAMH expressed views on the need to ensure Service User Involvement is meaningful and is not just tokenistic. Gary Graham (Chief Executive) endorsed this comment and stated that ticking boxes alone would not enable the Trust to make real and sustainable improvements. Mr Graham pointed out that the Board had ratified the Service User and Involvement Strategy at its meeting earlier that day, underlining the Trust s commitment to this agenda. 5.3 A member of the public asked how the Trust would approach a potential change in government, and what would this mean for the Trust?. Mr Graham responded that in any event, the Trust would need to be flexible and adapt to whatever new national and political circumstances may prevail. 5.4 Councillor Ault The older population is increasing, leading to more people suffering from dementia. What would be the Trust s response to this? Mrs Pugh answered this by explaining that the Trust was working closely with health, social care and third sector partners from both health economies to develop plans for dementia services. The Trust would also be looking at how to develop other areas of older people s services to support this. 5.5 A member of the public asked the Chief Executive to reflect on what areas the Trust hadn t the trust achieved?
Mr Graham stated that he felt that the Trust hadn t yet been able to make significant demonstrable improvements in the quality of services. He stated that this would be a key priority for the future, underpinned by the development of the Trust s Clinical and Social Care vision. 6. Closing Remarks 6.1 The Chairman thanked everyone for attending Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust s Annual General Meeting for 2008/09 and outlined his appreciation for attendees continued support during the Trust s first six months of operation. 7. Any Other Business There was no further business to discuss.