MENTAL WELFARE COMMISSION FOR SCOTLAND MEETING OF THE BOARD ON TUESDAY 6 MAY 2014 IN CONFERENCE ROOM, THISTLE HOUSE, EDINBURGH AT 10.

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1 MENTAL WELFARE COMMISSION FOR SCOTLAND MEETING OF THE BOARD ON TUESDAY 6 MAY 2014 IN CONFERENCE ROOM, THISTLE HOUSE, EDINBURGH AT 10.30AM Present The Very Revd Dr Graham Forbes CBE (items 1 to 4.6 only) Mr Norman Dunning (in the chair, items 4.7 to 7) Mr Nigel Henderson Ms Elaine Noad OBE (via conference call) Ms Jan Killeen Mr Paul Dumbleton Ms Lesley Smith Dr Sivasankaran Sashidharan In attendance Mr Colin McKay, Chief Executive Mr George Kappler, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director - Social Work Dr Gary Morrison, Executive Director - Medical Mrs Margo Fyfe, Executive Director - Nursing (temporary) Ms Alison McRae, Head of Corporate Services Mrs Alison Goodwin (item 4.2 only) Secretary Mr Charlie Burns, Administration Manager. 1. Welcome and Apologies There were no apologies. 2. Announcements The Chair said that, on behalf of the Board, he was delighted to welcome Mr McKay to his first meeting as Chief Executive of the Commission. Mr Henderson informed the Board that he had been appointed President of Mental Health Europe. The Board offered its congratulations on this appointment. 3. Minutes of Board meeting held on 11 March 2014 The minutes of the above meeting were approved. Mr Henderson asked what the position was with the petition to the Court of Session. Mr McKay said that the case had been sisted and that, while there was a dispute over who is the relevant local authority, the problem looked likely to be resolved 1

2 without the need for a court hearing. He confirmed that the man was in a care home, informally, and was agreeing to be there. 4. CEO update Mr McKay said that he proposed to provide a brief update to each Board meeting of work he has been involved in. He reported that he had accompanied staff on a focussed visit, and was intending to sit in on guardianship visits and on phone duty. He had spoken to each member of executive group about their objectives, particularly around the areas on which they take the lead role, and intended to look at performance management across the organisation. Consideration will be given to succession planning to prepare for Mr Kappler s departure in early 2015 and to Dr Morrison s role, since he will be taking responsibility for clinical issues previously carried out by Dr Lyons and for the Caldicott Guardian role. Mr McKay said that one of his priorities would be to take forward work on Commitment 5 of the Scottish Mental Health Strategy Paper. He highlighted the impending report from the Law Commission which would have major implications for the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 and referred to the decision in the Cheshire West case which had deemed that 2 people with a significant learning disability had had their liberty restricted, and said that this had potential implications for Scotland. Mr McKay is in the process of meeting with external stakeholders, including the sponsor department, SAMH, the Law Society of Scotland, the Mental Health Disability Committee. He intends also to meet with Board members individually. The Board agreed that an additional Board meeting should be held this year, to allow a free ranging discussion of issues. (Subsequently, the date set for the additional meeting is 16 September 2014). 5. Items for discussion and/or approval 5.1 Mr JL investigation report The Board thanked the investigation team for an excellent report. While endorsing the contents of the main report, the Board asked that the recommendations be strengthened. The Board also asked that an executive summary is produced and that the recommendations/conclusions are set out in order of importance. The Board agreed a comment from Mr Dumbleton that the report should clearly differentiate between carers and care workers. 5.2 Mr A investigation report Mr Dunning withdrew from discussions relating to this report. Mrs Fyfe explained for the Board that, unusually, the Commission had not carried out an investigation in this case, rather the report had been produced on the basis of a review of the information the Commission had received from the agencies involved. The Board acknowledged the seriousness of this case and agreed that there were learning points arising from it. 2

3 The Board agreed that Scottish Government should be consulted on recommendation 3, following which the report should be issued to Scottish Ministers and Scottish Government, and to all the agencies involved. A copy of the report will also be sent to Mr A s sister. The Board expressed its thanks to Mrs Fyfe for her work on the report. 5.3 People with dementia in mental health continuing care visit report The Board commented upon the huge variations in provision for people with dementia across the country as revealed by this report. Approval was given to the report s publication, subject to some textual changes that were noted by Mrs Hattie. The Board agreed that the Chief Executive should issue a strongly worded statement to accompany publication of the report, referring to the Commission s serious concerns about the provision of services to people with dementia in mental health continuing care. In recognition of the need to raise expectations for this client group, examples of the good practice found on these visits will be highlighted in this statement. Publication of the report will take place by the end of May. 5.4 Specified persons in low secure units report The Board approved the Report for publication, subject to the above comments, on the Commission s website. A copy of the report will also be sent to the Chief Executives of NHS Boards. 5.5 Best Value Framework The Board noted the report on the best value framework for Mr McKay stated that he wanted to review the framework for 2014/ Board members code of conduct The Board approved the Board members Code of Conduct. 5.7 Register of interests Ms Smith advised that two of the interests she had notified had not been included on the register. Ms McRae undertook to look into this. The register was otherwise agreed. 5.8 Data Protection Policy Mr McKay highlighted the increasing number of data access requests the Commission has been receiving, pointing out the resource implications this has for the organisation. The Board approved the Data Protection Policy. 5.9 Financial review 3

4 Ms McRae confirmed that a break even position was being forecast for the Commission s spending for The Board noted the contents of the March 2014 financial review paper. 5.10Senior appointments pay remit 2014/15 The Board approved the senior appointments pay remit 2014/15. Ms McRae said that Commission Visitors will be included in the staff pay remit from 2015/ Items for information 6.1 Audit Committee minutes 25 February 2014 Ms McRae advised that Mr Robin McNaught, the Finance and Performance Director at the State Hospital, is interested in joining the Audit Committee as a replacement for Mr James Hobson. Mrs Noad and Mr Dunning will meet with him following the June meeting, which he will attend as an observer. 6.2 Advisory Committee notes 13 February 2014 The Board noted the contents of the note of the Advisory Committee meeting held on 13 February Reports on good practice guides The Board expressed some concern if peer support workers were perceived to be spokespeople for service users. Ms McRae explained that this was not the case, that it had been agreed prior to the tender being accepted that peer support workers views rather than service user groups would be canvassed. Ms McRae confirmed for the Board the intention to publish a summary document of the guides and an action plan. 6.4 Complaints report The Board noted the contents of the complaints summary. 6.5 Freedom of Information report The Board agreed that, for the future, the name of the originator of the request should not be included in the paper, only the initials of the individual which will allow the Board to identify the requests that have come from the same requester. 6.6 Non-professional calls to advice line The Board noted the generally upward trend of calls from non-professional callers. 6.7 NCF progress update The Board noted the contents of the NCF update. 4

5 6.8 Letter from Minister of State for Disabled People (DWP) (Ms DE investigation) The Board noted the contents of the letter from the Minister of State for Disabled People in response to the publication of the Ms DE investigation report. 7. Any other business The Board agreed that it was content for Mr Dumbleton to take the lead on its behalf on the production of the 2013/14 Annual Report. 8. Board self assessment discussion The Board noted the composite self assessment and agreed to discuss at a later date. 9. Date of next meeting The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 25 June