Chamber and committees

I will ask the first question to get us going. One of the striking things that is evident in the report is the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis have had on the overall state of adult mental health. We are particularly interested in your perspective on the differences that you have seen, as a result of those factors, in the demand on the services that you provide. Chris Williams, do you want to kick us off?

That is helpful. We got evidence on that—very distinctive evidence on the final point—last week.

Christiana Melam wants to come in with a link worker’s point of view.

Thank you very much indeed.

I invite Anne Rowan or Mike Burns to come in. I do not know whether you have a perspective on that, from the point of view of community-based or charity-based intervention. What has happened to the demand on your services?

Mike Burns, what has happened over the past four years to the services that Penumbra Mental Health provides?

Thank you. We will bring you in during the course of the morning, because it is really valuable for us to hear about that direct, front-line experience.

I have a very particular question that I will ask Pavan Srireddy and Chris Williams to respond to, although it is fine if anyone else wants to chip in. One of the things that struck us in the report is that, despite the huge increase in demand, the number of psychiatry appointments appears to have decreased. Can you shed any light on the reasons for that? If you do not want to come in, that is fine, but I will start with Pavan Srireddy.

That is very helpful. Workforce planning is a recurring theme that the committee has to address.

Chris, I will bring you in.

Graham.

Yes. It is not a dialogue; it is a round-table session.

Thanks, Dr Srireddy. I am going to bring in Stephen Low, as we have not heard from him yet. I will then bring in Chris Williams to make a brief comment, after which we will move on.

Thank you—that is a very clear point of view.

Before we finish this section, I will give a last word to Derek Frew, before I bring in Colin Beattie.

Willie Coffey’s point was about how we capture outcomes and whether the performance measurement systems are adequate. Pavan Srireddy, you wanted to come in on that, I think, so I will bring you in next, then I will turn to Christina Melam.