The proportion of people waiting more than 18 weeks for appointments with Jersey Talking Therapies is well above the 5% target rate – sitting at 43.4% in June. However, this figure has steadily come down since June last year.
Referrals received by the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service increased by 59% from last year with 471 made up to June this year. Seven patients under the age of 18 were admitted to Orchard House – the referral clinic for adults – when the target is zero.
The number of adult mental health outpatient referrals has been 1,236 since the start of 2021, although again this represents a drop of 19% against the year on year comparison.
The report states: ‘We continue to see an increase in admissions into the adult inpatient unit at Orchard House, and, in addition we have seen an increase in the number of admissions for persons under the age of 18. We believe this increase in activity is contributed by the pandemic, and, our crisis prevention service in adult services and CAMHS community teams are focussing on community caseload to prevent further admissions and facilitate early discharge for inpatients. Overall bed occupancy within the inpatient unit remains slightly below 85%.
‘Improvements to the Quality and Performance Report continue with further changes and reviews scheduled for the third quarter of 2021, noting exception reports have been developed to support additional areas alongside the full QPR.’
During a Scrutiny Panel hearing in June, director general for health Caroline Landon and group medical director Rob Sainsbury said they were reluctant to release the performance report over fears that media reporting of the figures could put people off from accessing health services. The report was presented to senior health officials, including Health Minister Richard Renouf, at a meeting last week and was released publicly today.
The report shows that significant improvements have been made in the past 12 months in areas such as child dental work – specifically tooth extractions, average waiting times in the Emergency Department, length of stay for adult mental health services and average length of stay within the maternity ward.
‘The Maternity Department has been busier in the first half of 2021 than in the same period in 2020 with 10% more deliveries year to date. The percentage of home births compares very favourably with other jurisdictions – for example the Office for National Statistics has provisionally reported 2.4% of live births in England and Wales in quarter one of 2021 took place at home. This compares to 5.3% for the year to date and 6.6% in June in Jersey.
‘The Care Group has in place clinically led initiatives to investigate and reduce caesarean section rates and postpartum haemorrhage. Some performance measures have been set historically as aspirational stretch targets. These are being reviewed to ensure they are realistic, reflecting a safe and effective service,’ the report continued.
Full coverage in Wednesday’s JEP.
