MINUTES

MENTALHEALTH SELF HELP RESOURCE GROUPS FORUM MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 18TH JUNE 2012 : TRURO LIBRARY

Present:Marita Ward, Sue McDermott, Jane Morgan (Cornwall Mental Health Project) Tracey Marsh (PCT Commissioner). Please see attached table of representatives from the Mental Health Self Help Groups

Apologies: Rendevous Club, Members of Women Sharing, Elfordleigh, Graham Hancock,

1. / Introduction and Background
Marita Ward introduced the members of the Mental Health Project and gave a background to the setting up of the Mental Health Self Help Groups forum. The project has secured funding from the Duchy Health Charity to have a peer support worker liaising with the self help groups, using a toolkit that Sue McDermott had produced and uses with the setting up of Memory cafes.
Marita introduced Tracey Marsh, PCT Commissioner to the meeting.
Tracey explained to the Forum that there is a lot of uncertainty over the next couple of years with the new Health Bill 2013 coming into force. The PCT will be taken over by the KCCG (practising GP’s) who will be responsible for the funding of mental health services and other primary services throughout Cornwall. We are entering into the unknown and we need to be prepared, and the way to be prepared is to engage and network with other groups to share best practice, feedback on any issues, such as funding opportunities, venues etc. It is almost like a spiders web and the web increases and spreads the word.
Sue McDermott introduced herself to the group and gave them a background to her work with memory cafes over the past two years. It was hoped to do a mapping exercise of all the self help groups over the next month and also hopes to visit a vast majority of the groups. / Actions
2. / Terms of Reference for the Group
Frequency of Meetings
  • Marita asked the meeting for their views on the frequency and venues of meetings.
  • Obviously funding is an issue, and that maybe we could use day centres and self help group venues for meetings. The group agreed that it would be very beneficial to have a speaker at the next meeting and it was agreed that a representative from the KCCG Dr Paul Cook from Carnon Downs would speak about mental health in Cornwall. Tracey Marsh agreed to invite Dr Cook when a date for the next meeting had been agreed.
  • Discussion followed on the mapping exercise that Sue McDermott will be undertaking over the next month to gauge the catchment areas of self help groups, the structure of the groups, who runs the groups, whether they are big or small etc. It has come across from this meeting that funding is one of the main issues relating to self help groups.
  • It is hoped that this mapping exercise will make the self help groups feel more included rather than isolated and that sharing information and best practice will help one and all.
  • It was also suggested that we hold cluster meetings on various topics and this is something to be discussed at a later date.
  • Maybe workshops on various topics.
  • Discussion followed on World Health Day and how we could promote.
  • Discussion followed on the formalising of groups and that it can create stress and that some groups may not want to be so formalised. This is an item for discussion on boundaries and constitutions for a future meeting.
  • Elliot Grimes also asked about the volunteering aspect within self help groups and that the DWP need to know that you are volunteering but undertaking “therapeutic voluntary work” and not paid expenses volunteering work. A letter is attached to these minutes on the terminology.
  • An idea was for a central forum for self help group discussions, Tracey Marsh said that there is the website that people can access and there are discussion forums on this site.
  • The meeting discussed various other topics of the volunteering role and that volunteers are a valuable resource of the voluntary sector, and in someways an extension to the NHS, and Tracey Marsh recognised this fact and that all the self help groups are a valuable asset to the community.
  • The meeting ended at 4.00pm and a further meeting would be arranged after Sue McDermott had completed her mapping exercise.
  • All agreed that this was a valuable forum meeting and look forward to future meetings.
/ Marita Ward
Tracey Marsh
Sue McDermott
Marita Ward to invite a guest speaker