TUESDAY, 04 FEBRUARY, 2020

EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 ON 5 FEBRUARY, 2020.

Independent Inquiry into Mental Health Services in Tayside

Responding to the report of the Independent Inquiry into Mental Health Services in Tayside, NHS Tayside Chair Mrs Lorna Birse-Stewart said:

“As Chair of NHS Tayside I welcome today’s report from the Independent Inquiry. The Board views the recommendations as an opportunity to embrace a fresh approach to the design and delivery of mental health services across Tayside.

“NHS Tayside decided to commission the Independent Inquiry in 2018 recognising that an in-depth examination of mental health services would offer everyone who wanted to contribute the opportunity to provide their views and experiences of receiving and delivering care and treatment across Tayside. Today’s final report is the culmination of all of those lived experiences, together with other important evidence gathered over the past 18 months.

“I would like to thank the Chair of the Independent Inquiry Dr David Strang and his team for their work. It is important that those living with mental ill health, their families and carers, and our staff, know that the underpinning themes of the Inquiry report – Trust and Respect – will run through every aspect of our future plans, which will be developed in partnership with our Integration Joint Boards in Angus, Dundee and Perth & Kinross and all stakeholders.

“The involvement of staff, users of our mental health services, communities and partner organisations is critical to build on the improvement work which is already under way in mental health services. The Board of NHS Tayside is making a clear commitment today to ensure better engagement with all stakeholders in helping shape the delivery of mental health services.

“The Independent Inquiry team say in the report that they were impressed with the many committed staff who were delivering positive outcomes for those using our mental health services. This is important recognition for our workforce who are delivering care, treatment and support to patients, service users, their families and carers every day. The Board of NHS Tayside also acknowledges the dedication and hard work of staff, both in our community teams and in our hospitals.

“More than 1500 people contributed to the Inquiry and the voices we hear coming through very strongly in the report are giving us a deep insight into how people are truly connected to the services we provide. We thank each and every one of those 1500 people, some of whom feel they have not been fully listened to in the past, and I would like to give a commitment to them, on behalf of the Board, to say we are listening to ensure we rebuild mental health services which earn the trust and respect of everyone.”

Grant Archibald, Chief Executive, NHS Tayside said, “The publication of today’s report delivers a challenging set of recommendations for mental health services across Tayside, which are based on the lived experiences of a wide range of people and extensive evidence provided to the Inquiry team.

“Dr David Strang has stated that the report provides an opportunity for Tayside to develop world class mental health services, where the population are served with commitment and passion. That is the spirit in which we receive the report today and we are determined to make the significant changes needed to deliver on this opportunity and rebuild confidence in services.

“Strong partnerships are critical to providing high-quality mental health services and therefore Integration Joint Boards in Tayside are already working hard with NHS Tayside to deliver new approaches which will improve services for people across our communities.

“I am also pleased to confirm that the Chief Executives of the local authorities and the Tayside Divisional Commander Police Scotland have signed up to a Joint Statement of Intent as a response to today’s report. This underlines the importance of strong partnerships in addressing the challenges which may lie ahead.

“For the staff involved in providing mental health services, whose voices are also very strong in today’s report, we know that they are working hard to support vulnerable people of all ages every day and collectively we must support them. To address this, we will be establishing a new approach to engaging with our workforce so they can share their views and ideas, help design new services and offer ongoing feedback with confidence.”

The Board of NHS Tayside will consider the Independent Inquiry into Mental Health Services in Tayside at its public meeting on February 27, 2020.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Scottish Government has continued to support mental health services in Tayside and announced an additional package of support for mental health services in Tayside on 31-01-20. https://www.gov.scot/news/support-for-mental-health-services-at-nhs-tayside/

The Tayside Executive Partners - NHS Tayside, Angus Council, Dundee City Council, Perth & Kinross Council, Police Scotland Tayside Division – have issued a Statement of Intent as a collective response to the Independent Inquiry, and committed to a number of immediate actions including: establishing a Collaborative Strategic Leadership Group to oversee the urgent and essential improvement actions; strengthening engagement and participation; driving the development of the Tayside-wide Strategy for Transforming and Improving Mental Health Services; learning from other mental health systems, experts and professional bodies to further develop leadership, culture, behaviours and attitudes; and working in partnership with staff and staff representatives to build a learning culture

For more information about mental health services in Tayside go to our webpage (will be live from Wednesday, 5 February) https://www.nhstayside.scot.nhs.uk/OurServicesA-Z/MentalHealthandLearningDisabilityServices/index.htm

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138