The Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee were scheduled to meet on Thursday 24 April 2025 to discuss community diagnostics, suicide and self-harm prevention, responses to recommendations, and the committee's work programme. The meeting was due to take place at Loxley House.

Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention

The committee was scheduled to discuss work being done to reduce suicide and self-harm in Nottingham. The report that was to be presented to the committee noted that 17 people in the UK die by suicide every day, and that five of these people would previously have been in contact with mental health services.

The report also highlighted the new Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Self-Harm and Suicide Prevention Strategy, accompanied by a Suicide Prevention Charter. According to the partnership working document, the strategy is based on a population-wide approach where everyone can contribute to preventing self-harm and suicide. The shared strategic vision is:

Suicide prevention is everyone’s business. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire will be a place where organisations and people understand what they can do to promote wellbeing and reduce suicide and self-harm. Everyone affected by suicidality, suicide bereavement and self-harm will be treated with respect and have access to resources to support them and opportunities to build hope.

The strategy has four major ambitions:

• promote a safe and stigma-free environment
• promote wellbeing and reduce risk in at-risk groups
• ensure people get the right support at the right time and in the right place
• ensure local data and lived experience informs and drives self-harm and suicide prevention

The partnership working document also set out the eight statements included in the Suicide Prevention Charter on how local people want organisations to work:

• I want my mental health to be prioritised and supported at an early stage to avoid having to wait until a crisis to receive appropriate help
• I want to have a safety plan in place and a good support network around me
• I want to be asked about my personal story and wellbeing at an early stage so the right help can be given, but then want to avoid having to repeat my story unnecessarily
• I want to be listened to, treated with respect, and supported in a caring and friendly way
• I want language to be used which is respectful, reduces shame, and supports me to have a conversation on suicide where I can openly express my emotions and feelings without being judged
• I want clear, accurate and transparent information on my options including medication and waiting times and receive practical advice to support my mental health in the meantime
• I want friends and family to be included, and for them to be treated with respect and compassion
• I want to live the life I want and do the things I enjoy, and not be defined by a single experience

The partnership working document noted that the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham City Suicide Prevention and Self Harm Strategic Steering Group is responsible for the development and implementation of the Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Self Harm and Suicide Prevention Strategy 2024-2029.

Community Diagnostics

The committee was scheduled to discuss the opening of a new community-based facility in the city designed to increase access to diagnostics services and address a waiting list backlog for diagnostic testing appointments.

The report included a briefing note on the Nottingham Broad Marsh Community Diagnostic Centre. According to the briefing note, the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS) secured £50 million in capital funding to build two Community Diagnostics Centres (CDCs) within its area. One is to be established in Mansfield and the other in Nottingham as part of the Broad Marsh redevelopment.

The Nottingham centre was initially intended to open in Spring 2025, but construction is now due to begin shortly for it to become operational during Summer 2026. It is intended to deliver approximately 150,000 tests each year once fully open. The briefing note stated that the centre will be located so as to be accessible to the most deprived communities, being within a short walking distance of bus stops, the train station and tram stops.

The briefing note included a table showing the expected activity of the Nottingham Broad Marsh CDC in its first full year of operation (2027/28):

The briefing note stated that Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) will deliver an additional 24,500 tests from the NEMS Platform One location in Nottingham City Centre in 2025/26, funded by National CDC Accelerator funding.

Work Programme and 2025-26 Priorities

The committee was scheduled to discuss its completed work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year, and to identify potential scrutiny priorities for the upcoming 2025/26 municipal year.

The report included a list of potential items for scheduling, including:

• Adult Social Care Transformation
• Supported Living
• Homecare and Residential Respite Care Provision
• Reablement Service
• Early Intervention and Prevention
• The Better Care Fund¹
• Reducing Demand on Emergency Departments
• Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• Sexual Health Services
• Integrated Wellbeing Service
• System Approaches to Addressing Health Inequalities
• NHS Dental Services
• Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Strategy 2023-27
• Change NHS
• Ockenden Maternity Review²
• Tomorrow’s NUH
• Eating Disorder Support Services
• Children in Mental Health Crisis
• Sexual Violence Support Services

Responses to Recommendations

The committee was scheduled to note the responses received to recommendations made to the Council’s Executive. The report included responses to recommendations made at the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee meeting on 23 January 2025 regarding coordinating adult social care and housing services.