Pause agreed in programme to find long-term solution for in-patient mental health services for adults in south east Staffordshire

NHS England and the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) have agreed to pause the Assurance Panel planned for September, which would allow the ICB to reflect further on the feedback received from our stakeholders. We will look to set another date with NHS England during Autumn 2022.

This follows the ICB’s decision on 18 August 2022 to move to the next stage in the process which is gaining assurance from NHS England.

Following best practice and as part of our robust process for this programme, we commissioned the West Midlands Clinical Senate to independently review our work. The Clinical Senate is an established source of independent and objective clinical advice and guidance to assist health systems in making the best decisions about healthcare for their populations.

Under the terms of reference, the Clinical Review Panel were asked to:

• Provide an opinion on the clinical model and recommended proposal
• Explore the proposed clinical model and its alignment with the national strategy for mental health services to move from a bed-based model to one where patients are supported in the community where possible, with inpatient stays only where there is no alternative
• Explore the proposal to centralise beds at the St. George’s Hospital site in Stafford and to provide an opinion on the impact on patients.

The review panel has now published its report which includes five recommendations to support the transformation programme to move forward through the NHS England assurance process for major service changes. You can read the full report on the West Midlands Clinical Senate website. 

No decisions have yet been made and there may be further opportunities for people to share their views on the programme. You can read more about the programme on the dedicated project page on the ICB website.