UPDATE: Christmas Resilience Plan for Young People in Cheshire & Merseyside
The knowledge and experience generated by implementing the Complex Needs Escalation and Support Tool (CNEST) and Gateway between 2022 and 2024 was key to this and plans for Christmas 2024 focussed on the following principles:
- To continue to agree timely support in response to the needs of the young person CNEST and Gateway during this period.
- To continue to utilise Gateway (Level 1) and Resolution (Level 2) discussion.
- To be informed by feedback from Cheshire and Merseyside Gateway Chairs concerning young people identified as experiencing increasingly complex needs, which may have resulted in placement breakdown during December 2024.
- To reflect co-production from Experts by Experience and carers during development of the Complex Needs Escalation Support Framework.
- To be consistent with NHS Quality Domains.
On Tuesday 3 December colleagues from Local Authorities, NHS Providers and ICB joined a webinar to learn more about the Christmas Resilience Plan. If you missed the webinar, a recording is available below. Slides from the day are available here as are collated Frequently Asked Questions and an up-to-date list of Gateway Chairs for 9 Places.
A briefing document, circulated to professionals for children and young people's services in Cheshire and Merseyside was also available. In addition to ensuring professionals utilised the Complex Needs Escalation Support Framework, LPC colleagues also worked with Local Authority and ICB representatives to identify additional crisis provision for safer, short term support.
Many valuable lessons emerged from applying this new way of working and we are keen to capture feedback from across our collaborative as part of a formal evaluation to identify and share learning, in addition to considering whether any aspects might be regarded as good practice and assess effectiveness.
Simon Banks, Place Director for Wirral and Strategic Lead for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:
"The need to support children and young people with complex needs who are in crisis exists all year. The challenge to meet the needs of these children and young people is particularly significant around Christmas and New Year. The work to create a Christmas Resilience Plan placed the Cheshire and Merseyside system in a better position than previous years, facilitating a greater understanding of what support and escalation was available. The additional crisis provision that was commissioned and held as a “break glass” option was not utilised, although there were pressures in the system. The challenge for Christmas 2025 is to have in place some regulated provision that can support crisis interventions and provide more appropriate places of care than an Emergency Department or paediatric ward."
In considering the challenge Simon articulates, we are particularly keen to consider how effective interdisciplinary working supported professionals to agree timely action and avoid delays in seeking an appropriate place of care for young people.
We welcome informal feedback from professionals engaged with the Christmas Resilience Plan: in addition to providing opportunities for individual interviews with professionals directly involved in delivery, focus group sessions and an online questionnaire, will be available shortly for those indirectly involved, following ethical approval.
If you have any queries or would like to express an interest in participating in the evaluation, contact: Elizabeth.Collins21@nhs.net