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Summary
The Health Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet to discuss its terms of reference and work programme for the coming year. Updates on the Mental Health Strategy, Calm Cafes, the Joint Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee, the Health & Wellbeing Board, and the Veterans Health and Wellbeing Survey are also on the agenda.
Mental Health Strategy and Calm Cafes
The committee is scheduled receive updates on the Telford & Wrekin Mental Health Strategy and the Community Calm Café model.
According to the Telford & Wrekin Mental Health Strategy Briefing, the council has spoken to around 100 adults and 70 children, including young people, care leavers, families, carers and representatives, to gather feedback. An Experts By Experience Sub Group has been developed to ensure the strategy is led by experience.
Some of the emerging themes from the consultations include:
- Early help and criteria
- More peer support
- Criteria free support
- Accessible information timetable of activities
- Improved advice and guidance
- Visible services delivered in communities
- Communication between services
- Access to respite/breaks
- More evening and weekend support
- Place based support in communities and homes
- Increased community outreach
- Increased family support
- No closure due to lack of engagement
- More training on mental health for voluntary sector organisations
- More intergenerational work
- Better mental health offer for over 65s
The briefing also includes a summary of the Mental Health Bill, which aims to modernise the Mental Health Act 19831 and ensure patients are central to decisions about their care and treatment. The Calm Cafe Update October 2025 will provide an update on the Community Calm Café model. Calm Cafés are open-access community locations that offer wrap-around support, with the aim of reducing demand on statutory services. The cafes are run in partnership with Telford Mind2 and include social work support. According to the report, in the first quarter of the year, 77 people attended the Calm Café, resulting in 685 interactions of support. A high proportion of attendees reported suicidal thoughts and anxiety as reasons for attending. The majority of attendees are aged between 20 and 29 years, or 55 and 59 years, with 25% between 18 and 29 years. 51% are male.
The Dual Diagnosis Calm Café, which supports people with both mental health and substance misuse issues, had 44 attendees and 231 interactions of support in the same period. A high proportion of attendees reported substance misuse and alcohol as reasons for attending. 40% of those who attend are 45 –54 years, and 75% are male.
Health Scrutiny Work Programme 2025/26
The Health Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to review and agree its work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year. According to the Health Scrutiny Work Programme 2025/26, scrutiny committees now operate a two-year work programme to allow for in-depth work over a longer period. The work programme is reviewed annually, with a consultation period involving the public, key stakeholders and council officers.
The draft work programme includes the following topics:
- Terms of Reference
- Mental Health Strategy/Calm Cafes
- Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin Veterans Health and Wellbeing Survey
- Review of actions following CQC[^4] inspection of Adult Social Care
- Primary Care – GP Access
- NHS 10 Year Plan[^5]
- Dentistry
- Pharmacy Needs Assessment [^4]: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. [^5]: The NHS 10 Year Plan, also known as the NHS Long Term Plan, sets out the NHS's priorities for the next decade, focusing on improving prevention, personalised care, and integrated services.
Terms of Reference 2025/26
The committee is scheduled to agree and reconfirm its terms of reference for the 2025/26 municipal year. The Terms of Reference 2025/26 sets out the membership, functions, meeting administration, and reporting arrangements for the committee.
The functions of the committee include:
- Monitoring the performance of NHS Trusts whose services affect local people
- Acting as the statutory consultee on NHS proposals for substantial variation in service
- Participating in a Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee with elected members from Shropshire Council
- Responding to referrals from Healthwatch regarding health services and Adult Care Services
- Scrutinising proposals for the provision of adult care services and the impacts of any proposed changes to services
- Scrutinising adult care services that are of concern to local people.
Updates from the JHOSC and the Health & Wellbeing Board
The committee is scheduled to receive updates on the work of the Joint Health & Overview Scrutiny Committee (JHOSC) and the Health & Wellbeing Board.
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The Mental Health Act 1983 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that covers the reception, care and treatment of people with mental disorder, and the management of their property and affairs. ↩
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Telford Mind is a local branch of the national mental health charity, Mind, providing services and support to people experiencing mental health problems in the Telford and Wrekin area. ↩
Attendees
Topics
No topics have been identified for this meeting yet.
Meeting Documents
Additional Documents