By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Nottingham City Council is threatening to report a local NHS organisation to the Government unless it explains changes it has made to a mental health support service in Forest Fields.
Nottingham’s Centre for Trauma, Resilience and Growth, which helped people living with the effects of traumatic stress, had operated out of the Mandala Centre on Gregory Boulevard until last spring.
It was run by the troubled Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, which is currently subject to a special review looking into the care it provides.
During a Nottingham City Council Health Scrutiny Committee meeting on Thursday, May 16, concerns were raised over how a decision to merge the centre with wider psychological therapies had impacted its service.
While the trust runs the service, it is controlled and commissioned by the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).
The ICB is a local NHS organisation responsible for planning healthcare.
On May 8 last year, the trust said in a post on its website the trauma centre had been “incorporated” into the broader ‘Step 4 Nottinghamshire Healthcare Secondary Psychological Therapies Pathway’.
Step 4 involves specialist treatment for people using adult mental health services across Nottinghamshire, with users typically living with longer-term, more complex difficulties.
The post said: “Patients who are currently awaiting treatment from the Centre for Trauma, Resilience and Growth will continue to be seen and will be contacted when an appointment becomes available.”
However, during the meeting, it was revealed the length of therapy available had gone from two years to 16 to 30 sessions under the merger.
Cllr Georgia Power (Lab), the chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the ICB has a requirement to alert them to any substantial variations to NHS services.
She has given the organisation two weeks to clarify how the service has changed.
If not, the matter will be referred to the Government for potential intervention, she said.
The process allows the Secretary of State to intervene in NHS service reconfigurations at any stage where a proposal exists, and take or re-take any decision that has been been taken by an NHS commissioning body.
“They should have, at the very least, consulted with us and the county, which they didn’t,” Cllr Power said after the meeting.
“They claim the trauma centre and Step 4 psychological therapies services merged. But then, at the meeting, they said this happened because the trauma centre offered lots of good things, including long-term therapy, and Step 4 didn’t.
“They said it was a similar type of patient being referred to each service, and those being referred to Step 4 were getting an inferior service, which is why they claimed they merged them.
“Except when we tried to clarify what trauma services were now available at Step 4 it seemed there weren’t any – which I’m taking that as the trauma service is cut.
“As a minimum they confirmed the length of therapy available has gone from two years to 16 sessions – 30 if you’re lucky. As far as I’m concerned that is a change in service so we will be referring.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the ICB to confirm what the exact changes had been, if any, but it only replied to say a report will be provided soon.
A spokeswoman said: “The Health Scrutiny Committee have asked for more detail on this matter before any further action is taken and we will provide a report soon.”
