Agenda item

(15 minutes presentation/10 minutes questions)

The Board to receive a presentation on student mental health.

Sara Gallagher/Alice Ludgate

Sara Gallagher and Alice Ludgate gave a joint presentation on university student mental health which was circulated separately and summarised below:

1.  The reality inside universities: - there was an increased prevalence of mental illness, 450% increase in declarations over the last 10 years:

a.  Mental health was starting to overtake specific learning difficulties as the most disclosed disability

b.  Main presentations: anxiety, depression

c.  Increased number of eating disorders and acute mental health crises

2.  The student wellbeing services available at both universities

3.  Themes, challenges and opportunities

4.  Questions for the Board:

a.  How can we improve outcomes for student mental health in Bath?

b.  How can we work more closely with statutory services, Integrated Care Alliance?

c.  Bridging the gaps between services?

d.  What is our next step to move this forward?

The following responses were given in answer to questions raised by the presentation:

1.  In terms of support for students with eating disorders, the provision had improved, but it would be useful to undertake a gap analysis to identify where further improvements could be made.

2.  There was an inconsistency in pathways to mental health services and some providers were struggling with capacity.

3.  There was a link between mental health and student accommodation, particularly in terms of the cost of accommodation in the B&NES area.

4.  It was difficult to obtain precise statistics about the local rate of student suicide as the cause of a student death was not always shared with universities.

5.  Students were asked about their mental health on receiving an offer and this was followed up on starting university.  Students were encouraged to register with a local GP although it was noted that some students had complex needs and may need some care to remain in their home region.

Board members raised the following comments:

1.  Kate Morton confirmed that Bath Mind worked closely with the Bath Universities as well as Bath College and stated there was a need to free up contracts and work differently and more creatively to ensure robust sustainable models to deliver services.

2.  Paul Harris commented that it would be useful to measure the impact of the inhouse services provided by universities and how this benefitted other service providers, e.g., NHS.

3.  Nicola Hazle referred to ICA work about integrated teams and undertook to link partners into this work.  She reported work was also ongoing around supporting clinical leaders and this could include student wellbeing teams.

4.  Val Scrase commented that there was a challenge around preventative work and how young people could be supported to prepare for university.  It was noted that there was outreach work in local schools to prepare for the transition, but it was a challenge when students were coming from outside the area/from overseas to study in Bath. 

5.  Alex Luke confirmed that AWP could work with the universities to support referrals.

6.  Sara Gallagher undertook to look into what information was available about the percentage of students that remained in the local area after graduating.

7.  In terms of working closely with partners it was noted that universities were represented on community framework groups and Alice and Sara undertook to revisit their representation on these groups.

8.  In terms of next steps, there was a Suicide Prevention Event taking place on 11 October and both universities were looking to build on this event to work more closely with partners.

On behalf of the Board the Chair thanked Sara, Alice and their teams for their work.