The Joint Steering Committee was created to provide advice and leadership in the development of the Joint Regional Plan which clearly identifies the needs, agreed outcomes and service responses in relation to mental health, suicide prevention and alcohol and other drugs in the Gold Coast region.

The committee was comprised of;

• Lived experience representatives
• Clinical representatives
• Gold Coast Health Mental Health Directorate
• Gold Coast Health Strategy & Planning Directorate
• Gold Coast Primary Health Network representatives
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives

Meeting Outcomes

• June 2020
  • We reviewed and considered feedback received on the draft Plan. Suggestions will be incorporated as practicable in the final document.
  • We noted the endorsement of the Plan and positive feedback from both Gold Coast Health and GCPHN Boards of Directors. Board endorsement is a significant milestone and we look forward to publicly launching the Plan soon.
  • We reflected on the favourable outcomes of the partnership assessment we completed as a Steering Committee, and agreed this is a useful tool and should be utilised again in the future
  • We acknowledged this was the last meeting of the Steering Committee, whose remit was to oversee development of the Plan. We extend our appreciation to all of those who have contributed to the process, and the members of the Steering Committee who have guided the process.
  • We look forward to continuing to work together and with other stakeholders in the implementation phase.
• April 2020
  • Discussed extension of deadline for regional plans but agreed that we have come a long way and are on track with initial target deadline, ready to move onto implementation.
  • We are working through implementation structures and approach with goal to maintain enthusiasm and momentum of the work
  • We recognise how the JRP is already having a positive effect on implementation
• March 2020
  • We endorsed the Silver Draft and new structure of the plan
  • We agreed on timelines and processes for endorsement
  • We have agreed on a process for transition from the planning phase to implementation phase
  • We succeeded in our first virtual meeting as a Steering Committee.
• February 2020
  • Significant progress has been made on refining the Plan. Next steps have been agreed upon and we are on track for completing in June.
  • All agreed the importance of the ongoing voice of lived experience and that there will be mechanisms to encourage ongoing engagement.
  • We have planned a partnership health check in March to make sure we have a strong foundation that supports the implementation of the Plan.
• January 2020
  • Significant progress has been made analyzing consultation content and a framework has been established for organizing the content.
  • We have made minor revisions to the outcomes based on stakeholder feedback and these have been endorsed.
  • We have started thinking about structures that will support implementation of the plan.
  • We are on track for the development of the plan
• November 2019
  • We reviewed plans for the upcoming Joint Regional Plan workshop and are looking forward to working together with stakeholders on the day.
  • The lived experience reflection from the National Stepped Care workshop was a powerful reminder of our purpose and we look forward to this reflection being shared at the upcoming Joint Regional Plan workshop.
• October 2019
  • We endorsed the strategic framework, including vision, foundations, and principles.
  • While age cohorts are a foundation of our planning, we acknowledge there are overlaps between the cohorts and supporting transitions between life stages is a priority for us to explore.
  • We agreed that building relationships and improving trust across the sector is a priority for this Plan, and we have identified potential initiatives that will contribute to this, including exploration of agreement on quality and safety standards across the sector.
  • We provided input on planning for the sector workshop in November.
• September 2019
  • We reinforced that the essence of the Joint Regional Plan is a common agenda and reaffirmed the importance of having this common agenda.
  • Substantial progress has been made on the vision, guiding framework, structure of the plan as well as process to further develop the plan.
  • Work of this plan is being well received locally and progress is comparable to other regions.
• August 2019
  • Endorsed that lived experience must be present to reach quorum for Steering Committee.
  • We endorsed further refinement of the vision and bringing people together to ensure it is a shared vision for the region.
  • A program logic will be important to ensure we don’t lose sight of the partnership and what we have set out to achieve
• July 2019
  • The Joint Steering Committee endorsed the following statements:
    • We have begun mapping our services to the NMHSPF and remain committed to the continued mapping of services with support from Queensland Health.
    • We have endorsed the format, key components, and level of detail to be included in Joint Regional Plan with a commitment to use language that is easy to engage with.
    • We have endorsed a Stepped Care framework for the region.
    • The JRP will highlight the need for a culture shift from ‘where can I send you’ to ‘what can I do for you now’ so that people’s experience feel less like ‘pass the hot potato’
• June 2019
  • The Joint Steering Committee endorsed:
    • The scope and focus areas to be included in the Joint Regional Plan.
    • Delivery of a foundational plan that is actionable and focused
    • Use of the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework tool to help inform the foundation and as a basis for thinking about service planning.

Using clinical expertise and system knowledge to provide strategic advice on service integration, the Clinicians Advising on Wellbeing (CLAW) group responsibilities included;

• Provide advice on local needs, balancing the needs of different consumers, professions and the system as a whole
• Promote evidence-based practice in the context of finite health resources
• Identify opportunities for greater coordination and integration between providers of mental health, suicide prevention and alcohol and other drugs services
• Contribute to development of an agreed upon framework for stepped care in the Gold Coast region and;
• Actively liaise with and provide feedback from local clinicians on topical/emerging issues.

CLAW was comprised of representatives from key clinical professional groups across primary and tertiary sectors, including;

• General Practitioners
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Allied Health
• Child and Youth
• Alcohol and Other Drugs

Meeting Outcomes

• March 2020
  • We reviewed the content of the Strategic Roadmaps for the Foundational Elements and Focus Areas. While these are a positive first step, there is a need for additional steps to:
    • link service provision to the Plan as part of implementation
    • engage with and incentivise the private sector
  • It is important to explain the purpose and structure of the Plan, with a detailed implementation plan outlining more specifics on ‘how’ we will work towards the Desired States in the Strategic Roadmaps.
  • We discussed the importance of having a dedicated resource to drive implementation of the Plan, within organisations and across the sector

• October 2019
  • We began to look at the system foundations, and what some of the key priority areas may be within the cohorts
  • There is a need to have a common perspective for understanding people and their needs, the Common Approach framework may be a shared lens for understanding people.
  • The NMHSPF taxonomy makes sense for describing the workforce
  • When working through the foundations across the cohorts, there is a significant amount of content to process. We provided suggestions on structure and process for upcoming workshops.

• August 2019
  • Agree with the multiple lenses for thinking about Stepped Care and that these frameworks are not a prescriptive solution but a mechanism to frame discussions, identify transition points that need extra attention, and discuss potential solutions
  • The vision should emphasise people and not just systems, while also explicitly mentioning compassion and connection.
  • The principles should reflect a commitment to equity and social justice.
  • Discussed the National Mental Health Service Planning Framework and its limitations, especially for emerging professions and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

• June 2019

  The group identified the following challenges within Stepped Care:

  • Gaps between categories of ‘severe’ & ‘complex’ and ‘crisis’: People are often not serious enough to have acute mental health issues requiring ongoing hospital involvement but they continue coming back in crisis. There is a gap for people that are not acute enough for hospital but GPs can find difficult to manage. Often these are people that are chronically unwell, and have functional impairment without acuity.
  • Transition points: stepping up and down are challenging and risk points for clients, so the flow is incredibly important for Stepped Care to work
  • Dual diagnosis: Evidence supports that engagement is key. A challenge in practice because often models of care do not support this engagement

The Group of Lived Experience Experts (GLEE) was comprised of a diverse group of people with lived experience across both primary and tertiary care, with the purpose to;

• Ensure that the Joint Regional Plan is informed by people who utilise these services (ie. people who experience mental illness and substance use, as well as the carers who support them).
• Provide an opportunity to consumers and carers to have ‘a voice’ in system reform
• An opportunity to form relationships amongst peers, both of which may support rehabilitation and recovery through meaningful participation and engagement.

Meeting Outcomes

• March 2020
  • We feel it is Important to have an accessible, shorter version to summarise the JRP –while also keeping the longer and more complex one available for reference
  • Shared agreement that there must be flexibility and adaptability to service delivery and implementation especially in light of recent events occurring and as situations change.
  • During implementation, important to ensure that lived experience continued to be heard
• October 2020
  • In small groups, we workshopped outcomes that matter to us for Children & Youth, Adult, Older People, Alcohol and other drugs issues.
  • There were many common themes across the lifespan- we were able to see how unresolved issues affect other parts of the lifespan. This reinforced the continuing need for collaboration and connection across the sector.
  • Initially we weren’t sure we had the answers but collectively we have a good idea of the outcomes and actions needed in the region.
  • We are keen to contribute to the upcoming sector workshop and share outcomes are important for our own lived experience journey

• August 2020
  • We developed a concise but powerful vision
  • We worked on the core principles but they are still a work in progress.
  • We identified the gaps and inconsistencies within the revised stepped care approach and provided suggestion for the application of, and cultural inclusivity of the website
  • We have begun to think about the outcomes that matter to us.

• June 2020

  The group identified:

  The Joint Regional Plan needs to

  • Articulate outcome measures and accountability for actions in the plan
  • Highlight a need for cultural shift of ‘what can we do to help?’ so that people feel that the services are there for the outcomes not just the process.

  Current challenges with Stepped Care:

  • Does not conjure feelings of being nurtured. The transition points and gaps in services make people feel like ‘pass the hot potato’
  • Crisis is subjective for everyone and there needs to be a better crisis response than ED
  • Need for greater transparency about exclusion/inclusion criteria of services and strategies to improve awareness of services
  • Needs to reflect vulnerability triggers and how the social determinants influence stepped care needs

The Suicide Prevention Leadership Group (SPLG) used experience and system knowledge to advise on the development and operationalisation of a regional suicide prevention plan, which forms part of the overarching Joint Regional Plan. The SPLG helped establish an integrated and consistent approach to suicide prevention on the Gold Coast to develop a safety net for the community by connecting and coordinating new and existing interventions and programs, and building the capacity of the community to better support people facing a suicide crisis.

This group included people with a lived experience of suicide and representatives from organisations across a range of sectors including;

• Gold Coast Health
• Gold Coast PHN
• General Practice
• Emergency services
• Youth sector
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
• Care for Life Suicide Prevention Network
• Alcohol and Other Drugs sector

Meeting Outcomes

• May 2020
  • We heard updates on activities in the region that started out as ideas when the SPLG first met. It was good to hear about the progress made to implement these ideas and collaboration happening across the sector.
  • We agreed on a consultation and implementation approach including cultural considerations and other considerations for priority groups.
  • We reviewed feedback received to date on the draft CAP and agreed on next steps to address the feedback.
  • We committed to socialising the CAP amongst our networks to help seek support for this big piece of work.
• March 2020
  • We reviewed the areas endorsed for the JRP and developed headline indicators for these objectives. These will need to be reviewed and endorsed by the Steering Group
  • We discussed structures required for implementation, while the group didn’t land on a specific preference, they agreed the following:
    • A specific suicide prevention group was not necessary for oversight of the suicide prevention endorsed areas and that the JRP oversight group could manage this.
    • A group or groups would be necessary to drive implementation of specific endorsed areas. This should leverage existing groups/organisations in the sector.
    • Also need to consider who would have oversight of the CAP. The CAP may also need to become a standing agenda item with existing groups/organisations who have a role in implementation.
  • We recognise the need for further prioritisation around Objective 4: Develop a responsive workforce and request that the Steering Group identify and endorse actions that they believe they can commit to.

• February 2020
  • We reviewed the themes emerging from the SPLG content and the level of prioritisation and endorsed the following bodies of work to be progressed in the Joint Regional Plan.
    1. Lived experience, in all stages and phases
    2. Referral pathways as part of system navigation priority’
    3. Support for carers and families
    4. Information & communication strategy to build awareness and maintain momentum
    5. Workforce training & development
       • Schools
       • Compassionate care
       • Carers & family
       • Shared learning (just culture)

  • We recognise the alignment with JRP foundations and priorities may allow some of these bodies of work to be integrated and jointly progressed e.g. Referral pathways.
• December 2019

• November 2019
  • We have worked through all of the LifeSpan strategies and strategy leads are helping to review and further refine the SMART goals for these strategies.
  • We continue to recognise the overlap and synergies between strategies and the value of the systems approach. We also recognise the synergies with other components of the joint regional plan and are committed to ensuring that we share our work and identify opportunities to work together.
  • A priority for the SPLG is the need for up to date and current regional data in order to inform our planning process and decision making. This data will provide the evidence and urgency for inter sectoral collaboration. We will continue to pursue an agreement with AISRAP and the MH commission to provide regular updates and identify other relevant data sets.
  • We acknowledged that as we dive deeper into these bodies of work there is a need to work with additional stakeholders to further progress the community action plan with commitment from multiple sectors.

• October 2019
  • SPLG reconfirmed the value of systems approach and doing an initial canvass of all of the strategies, as this enables us to find synergies across the strategies and actions,
  • SPLG is also committed to a systems approach across the governance groups
  • SPLG has commenced work on SMART goals for LifeSpan strategies 1-4 and will share what we have developed
• September 2019
  • We explored the Core Values/Principles of the LifeSpan outer wheel and identified outcomes and actions for how we will work together in the Gold Coast region to achieve our vision and mission for suicide prevention.
  • We discussed current activities/events in the region focusing on the Strategy Engaging the community and providing opportunities to be part of the change.
  • We discussed our approach for canvassing all of the LifeSpan strategies at the October and November meetings. This approach involves a commitment of preparation by each SPLG member prior to the meeting (reading the evidence, reading the strategy snapshots/scoping materials, and reviewing the current response) and group planning in the meeting using a customised SMART goal template.
  • The December meeting will be used to review, prioritise and identify next steps for 2020.
• August 2019
  • The SPLG developed a vision and mission for the group and what they hope to achieve. The vision and mission may undergo further refinement as the work continues to develop.
    • Vision: Working together to greatly reduce suicide in the Gold Coast community.
    • Mission: Using a whole of system approach to understand the specific needs of our community; and instil hope by supporting people to be capable and compassionate in a connected community.

  In preparation for the next meeting the SPLG will:

  • Add to and update the mapping of the current response to suicide for the Gold Coast region.

  Consider past consultation and the evidence base to identify priority LifeSpan strategies and key issues for initial focus in the Joint Regional Plan.