The millions Bracknell Forest Council is spending on mental health services has been revealed as part of an investigation – and it is currently overspending on its budget.
The council has a budget of £9.312 million for mental health and out of hours services this year.
But it is actually forecast to spend over £10 million – a £784,000 overspend.
The amount being spent and the challenges the council is facing over providing mental health services were discussed at a meeting of its health and care overview and scrutiny panel.
The panel is currently conducting an investigation into mental health in Bracknell Forest.
READ MORE: Review of mental health triggered in Bracknell Forest
The figures were delivered in a presentation by Grainne Siggins, the council’s executive director of people.
Explaining the reason for the overspend, Ms Siggins said: “We do spend an awful lot of money to try and support people and older adults with complex needs to remain safe in the environment that’s approriate for their care.
“Wherever possible we try to support people living at home for as long as they they can.”
The council had a budget of £6.547 million to take care of elderly people with its Community Mental Health Team for Older Adults (CMHTOA) service, which has a forecast overspend of £122,000.
The number of people being supported does vary depending on the service.
When the budget for the community mental health team (CMHT) was set in December 2020, there were 58 people benefitting from the service.
The number of beneficiaries increased to an average of 64 from March to June this year, before dropping to 59 according to the latest figures.
But Tony Dwyer, the council’s assistant director of mental health and out of hours services, was keen to point out the community mental health team actually supports ‘almost 400’ people, with the 59 current beneficiaries are those that have ‘costed intervention’ which shows up in the budget.
The majority of the people are given professional support provided by NHS nurses. doctors and social workers.
Ms Siggins’ report identified four significant overspends, the biggest of these was for purchased social care, amounting to a £339,000 overspend for CMHT and CMHTOA services.
There is also a forecast overspend of £209,000 on the Forestcare phone service, which is set to be relocated from the Bracknell Depot to the Waterside Park, £173,000 on managing personnel, and £47,000 to support those with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS).
All in all, the council had overspent on its budget by approximately £784,000, leading to a forecast total spend of £10,096,000 on mental health and out of hours services by the end of the year.
The meeting was held on Monday, December 6. You can watch it below:
Highlighting some of the challenges the council is facing, Ms Siggins said: “It has been very difficult to retain social workers across the whole of the South East, it’s not something that’s specific to Bracknell.
“We’re doing all that we can to attract and recruit permanent staff, but it’s been very difficult for a number of years to recruit permanent social workers, it’s difficult also to recuit even agency staff.”
Another challenge is that the cost of residential and nursing home care is rising.
Mr Dwyer said that in 2018/19, beds in these homes costed £880 per week, but now they cost £980 per week instead.
READ MORE: The mental health services people in Bracknell can access as review continues
The council assists with the payment of care home beds after conducting a financial assessment of the person seeking the care, which can be found on the council website: https://beta.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/care-and-support/paying-care
A panel review into mental health in Bracknell Forest was began in November to see if access and service improvements can be made.
At the end of the review, the findings of the panel will be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission for approval. Any agreed recommendations will be presented to Bracknell Forest Council’s executive committee for implementation.
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