Live Well

• People want a different day service offer which adapts more to their lives and is accessible in the community they live.

• Demand is growing for specialist residential and supported housing within Cheshire West and Chester to support people with higher learning disability and mental health needs.

• We are in short supply of specialist learning disability and autism respite beds.

Regardless of someone’s age or ability, our vision means they will be able to live their lives well in their community with a range of universal and specialist services which support a healthy, independent, and fulfilling life.

We want to commission care services for people with learning disabilities, autism or a mental health condition that give them every opportunity to live a great life and to reach their full potential.

Learning disabilities and autism

Across Cheshire West and Chester, there are an estimated 5100 people aged 18 plus who have a learning disability and approximately 3581 people aged 18 plus who have autism. Not all these people are known to adult social care. Only those who have been identified as having an eligible care need will be known to the council.

In 2022 /23, the local authority commissioned care services for approximately 1431 people aged 18 and over who were assessed as having an eligible care need.

No. of people in receipt of services for a Learning Disability	1005
No. of people in receipt of services for Autism	225
No. of young people ‘transitions’ with LD and Autism	296

The Council spends a significant amount on Learning Disability and Autism services each year and this has increased by 60% over the last five years alongside an increase in the number of people supported.

	18-19	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23
Learning Disability and Autism spend ‘000s	37,000	42,600	46,900	53,200	59,400

Our joint Council/NHS commissioning strategy for Learning Disability and Autism (link) sets out our vision for how NHS and Council will work together to commission the right services for people, emphasising early intervention/pre-post diagnosis autism support in the community as well as reducing the number of out of area placements enabling more people to return from inpatient stays into their local community before transitioning back home.

Mental Health

We estimate that there are around 50,000 people in Cheshire West and Chester living with some form of mental health condition and it is anticipated that this number will rise slightly over the next five to ten years.

Mental health - all people Cheshire West & Chester	2020	2025	2030
People aged 18-64 predicted to have a common mental disorder	38,186	38,665	38,766
People aged 18-64 predicted to have a borderline personality disorder	4,847	4,908	4,920
People aged 18-64 predicted to have an antisocial personality disorder	6,640	6,711	6,715

Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey: Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2016

The Council has a duty to support people who have eligible needs under the Care Act and is currently supporting 321 people.

In 2022/22, the cost of delivering externally commissioned mental health support was £5.1million, and it is predicted to be £6.1m in 2022/23.

	18-19	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23*
Total - Mental Health spend ‘000s	3,443	4,233	4,582	5,046	6,104

We are developing an integrated all-age Mental Health Strategy and will publish this in 2023.

The vision for the strategy is to achieve parity of esteem between community based physical health services and mental health services, in recognition of the importance of both physical and mental health and the intrinsic links between them. This strategy seeks to achieve a position where people are supported to achieve good mental health and wellbeing through interventions that support the person as a whole. The strategic outcomes of the strategy are:

• To promote positive mental health and wellbeing
• To reduce the stigma associated with mental illness
• To increase the availability of evidence-based interventions that improve mental health and wellbeing
• To co-produce the design of services with people who use them to ensure they meet their needs