Angus Community Plan Annual Performance Report 2020-21

Leading on this work is the Angus Mental Health and Wellbeing Network (AMHAWN).

The Network encompasses the previous stand-alone Suicide Prevention Service. The Network has spent the past six months reviewing and redeveloping the group and action plan. A development session underpinned with survey work was carried out during the reporting period to ensure that this group is fit for purpose to address the challenges around Mental Health in Angus. This is even more important in the context of our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The work of the AMHAWN is influenced by the National Mental Health Strategy 2017 – 2027, the National Suicide Prevention Action Plan and the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Commissioning Plan.

Key developments of the Partnership over the reporting period include:

Social Prescribing is a service that involves helping patients to improve their health, wellbeing and social welfare by connecting them to community services - Angus have established a network of 8 social prescribers, 2 per locality throughout various GP practices.

Student Wellbeing at Dundee and Angus College – over the past year the offer has been enhanced through the creation of two brand new roles in the Learner Engagement Team: Student Wellbeing Officer and Student Wellbeing Assistant.

Dundee and Angus College delivered dedicated wellbeing activity to over 1,500 students. Engagement levels sky-rocketed when we launched our new After-Hours project and started using our social media channels to nurture participation, even when our students were all learning from home. One of the most successful activities during lockdown has been online energisers with curriculum teams. When lecturers felt energies waning, our staff were brought in to deliver high energy, fun, motivational sessions to keep wellness in check.

Advanced Nurse Practitioners and Senior Social Work Practitioners - Community Mental Health Services have introduced two new roles to meet the changing needs of people who use their service. Within the last 12 months they have appointed two Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs) and two Social Work Senior Practitioners.

Peer Support - There is now a mental health and wellbeing peer worker in every GP Practice in Angus alongside the social prescribing network managed through Voluntary Action Angus.

Listen Learn Change - Listen Learn Change is the Action Plan for mental health services in Tayside in response to ‘Trust and Respect’ Independent Inquiry Report (February 2020).

Work has started to develop a delivery plan for Angus Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme for children and young people aged 5-25. The Programme is supported by a three-year funding grant from Scottish Government.

Online relaxation and meditation programmes to support adult learners in dealing with isolation, loneliness and anxiety have been delivered by the Angus Council Communities Team throughout the pandemic.

Community Cafes, planned and delivered by volunteers, are supported by health and wellbeing partnerships in Forfar and Arbroath. The cafes offer opportunities for volunteers to develop a range of employability skills and provide a safe space for adults to socialise and to meet with a range of service providers.

Prior to COVID-19, Angus Mental Health Services were progressing a number of strategic developments reflecting changes to public expectations, economic pressures and the need to modernise our workforce strategies. A number of external service inspections of Angus and Tayside’s services as well as COVID-19 have reinforced the need that all agencies and communities work together to develop a ‘Whole Population Approach’ to managing our collective response to delivering different approaches for improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes in the future.

Following the unprecedented impact from the pandemic partners are all reporting evidence of increased numbers of people experiencing mental health issues. This was already a key issue we were collectively trying to address before the pandemic as outlined in the Strang report. Over the last year NHS Tayside has developed an action plan in collaboration with the three councils in the area and our Community Planning Partnership will now focus on what we can improve locally to support that work.

Case Study - Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing: Free Period Angus

Period poverty is set to be eradicated within Angus by the end of 2021, despite the challenges of COVID-19.
Within this reporting period ‘Free Period Angus’, part of the Scottish Government’s Period Poverty Campaign, has provided over 120,000 free products to girls and women throughout the area.

One in ten people in the UK cannot afford basic menstrual hygiene products and, in Angus, two/three in ten girls and women advised they were not attending school or work due to a lack of period products.

Having already distributed free period products to almost 200 community collection points across Angus, from sports centres and GP surgeries to shops and charities, the project team was forced to consider new and innovative ways to continue the momentum when COVID-19 struck.

As a result, Angus Community Planning Partnership was one of the first in the UK to team up with ‘Hey Girls’ who post three months’ worth of products, including environmentally friendly reusable pads and cups, on behalf of Free Period Angus.

Free Period Angus is a true community led local project with regular sessions and surveys going out to local people to gauge demand and ask what would make the difference to them.

Period products are expensive. At up to £18 per month, they’re just another financial burden and, for many, one they simply cannot afford. Similarly, with disposable products a significant blight on the environment, reusable products are a brilliant alternative and really growing in popularity. Whether collecting them in town or ordering them online, anyone living in Angus can now get their period products for free.

With the project funded until at least the end of 2022, the team is on track to eradicate period poverty before the year is out.

Free Period Angus has also teamed up with community group Sustainable Kirriemuir. This year alone, this collaboration has prompted requests from an additional 4,500 people throughout Angus for free, reusable products.

"Having access to products delivered to me direct is a godsend"

"I was so ashamed that I couldn't afford products, but I had to feed my child as a priority"

"I couldn't afford cloth pads so this is a real help and I wouldn't go back to disposable now"

"I have missed work in the past and so glad this won;t be an issue - I was so embarrassed"

Case study: Third Sector response to increasing wellbeing during the pandemic

In November 2020 the Brechin Buccaneers in partnership with Whistle Stop Café, supported by local volunteers handed out wellbeing packages to older people within the community to help lift their spirits.

Brechin Buccaneers had planned to run social dining events during 2020 to raise money for local causes. COVID-19 restrictions made it impossible to run as originally planned. The decision was made to reallocate some of the funding to do something to support the mental health of local people. The plan was to target older people who may have been overlooked by other services. Those who were managing alone but who may be even more isolated because of that. The ethos behind the initiative was simply to give people a present, something which would lift them mentally, giving the comfort of knowing other people cared and were thinking about them.

An afternoon tea was decided upon as the right gift, it would provide a treat but also for those living alone, on a low income, a light lunch, supper and snack. This also allowed the Buccaneers to provide support to a local business during a difficult time. A care package was made up of the afternoon tea, a quiz, information about who the pack was from, a bulb, a cup and soil. With the bulb was a note encouraging them to look after the bulb and themselves. They also asked people to send photos of their bulbs when they had grown. The plan was to deliver 50 care packs into the community however around 70 packs were distributed.
There was great feedback on Facebook from relatives of recipients of the packs explaining the impact of the care packages.
“My granny was over the moon with her surprise box thank you all x”

Within days of handing out the packs someone donated money to enable the Buccaneers to repeat the initiative.

It has changed approach people living close to the Crickety use to discuss issues and problems leading to less confrontational discussions.

Brechin Buccaneers Facebook post

The Crickety Facebook post

Christie Commission Legacy Case Study: Angus Listening Events

Background

In order to increase local engagement, we wanted to hear from and learn from as many individuals, community groups and organisations as possible. The pandemic and the associated lockdown have been a difficult time for many, and we know that the impact has not been felt equally. The aim of the Listening Events was to find out about people’s experiences during the pandemic. We explored what we could learn from people’s experiences – what did and did not work for them, and what should be taken forward together for the future, to help drive progress towards reducing poverty and advancing equality.

Participant Groups

The events included people able to speak about lived experience of poverty and/or inequality. Where possible, we also ensured that those with protected characteristics were represented. The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil, partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The following groups send representatives to help provide a detailed picture of support across the area:-

• Breast Buddies
• Syrian Refugee families
• Woman’s Aid & Young Experts Group
• Care experienced groups
• Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning (LGBTQ) groups
• Disability Awareness Forum

Format

The events were delivered online and face to face. This presented challenges given the COVID -19 restrictions however as groups started to meet socially distanced outdoors, the aim was to capture the views of those who may not historically engage with us. The questions were shared with participants prior to the event and included:-

1. What changed for you and your community during lockdown?
2. What worked and what didn’t?
3. What does a good life look like to you?

In total 5 events were held with a total of 60 participants from across Angus with a variety of challenges/views.

An hour-long session was held on 3rd of September with those support groups who had representatives from the protected characteristic groups and who have been engaging online throughout the pandemic. The session was facilitated through MS Teams and feedback gathered and presented alongside the direct sessions.

From these sessions there was enough data and feedback to shape the activity for the coming year alongside the Service Design sessions. Pilot projects are now underway to support Women’s Services and Improve connectivity across the area through a Transport Network as a direct result of the findings from the events.

Christie Commission Legacy Case Study: Working Together to Achieve Outcomes: Establish, Evolve and Evaluate Programme

At the Community Planning Joint meeting on 1st July 2020 the representatives agreed that to best address the priorities, we needed to review how we work and more importantly how we work together. The determining factor in how we work should be ensuring the right service reaches the right citizen when and where they need it and helping people to help themselves.

We have recently delivered a test of change focused on our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant amount of assessment about the response has already been undertaken. The workshop programme set out below built on the responses to date and developed the evaluation into what our potential every day could look like.

Evaluate

Evaluate - Selected attendees from partner organisations who have been working on the front line provided feedback. This work complemented the Social Renewal Advisory Board Listening events. Key areas for discussion included:

• why we achieved success,
• whether we could have done this within our “normal” working practices (if not, why not?)
• what the barriers were that we may encounter moving forward.

Evaluate: Workshops and assessment have led to the following decisions:

• Joint board/exec meetings (dates to be arranged)
• Decision making process through written procedure is required
• Short-life working group to be re-established (Strategic and frontline)

Evolve: the short-life working group will now look to:

• articulate common goals/purpose for the Partnership and communities of angus
• engage with people and communities to examine required pathways
• imagine future pathways

Establish: this will allow us to:

• build on the charter for partnership activities
• identify conditions and challenges to empowering frontline workers to operate
• answer questions on communications, co-location and accessibility

Evolve

Based on the output from the Evaluate workshops the Evolve session allowed key partners to participate in a session to build a proposal that would form the new approach to Community Planning and Partnership working in Angus. Key areas of discussion included: -

• considering the Partnership priorities from the citizen point of view.
• clarifying barriers in our current working practice that could stop us achieving that and identifying what could and could not be changed. This included National working practice of organisations, Governance restrictions, Performance reporting, Organisation policies and Behaviours.

Establish

The third workshop ‘Establish’ developed on the Evolve sessions and was an open invite developing the learning from the previous sessions. This includes:-

• introduction to recovery streams (LRP, Angus Connect, Demand Management).
• overview of work undertaken in workshops to date.
• discussion / challenge of proposals and recommendations on front line working in break out groups with facilitated questions.
• discussion on the resultant structure of CPP and reporting arrangements / performance measurement.
• feedback and agreement on recommendations to be taken to Board.

This linked to the Christie principle of Public service providers being required to work much more closely in partnership, to integrate service provision and thus improve the outcomes they achieve. Moving forward Angus Community Planning Partners will develop a number of projects through Service Design principles to better co-produce services with local people.

Next: Improving Accessibility and Connectivity