Agenda item

The Director of Public Health will present his Annual Report to the Commission.

The Director of Public Health submitted his annual report to the Commission. The following was noted:

·       The Director detailed how he discovered a library of old council minutes from 1894-1895 which documented levels of disease in Victorian Leicester

·       The minutes detailed the impact of when smallpox vaccinations were compulsory and the subsequent local impact including, riots and arrests

·       This demonstrated the Leicester method of isolation and contact tracing which parallels methods used during the COVID pandemic.

·       Population and ethnicity changes shown in the data, particularly over the last 20 years and examined life expectancy changes for men and women, which highlighted the effects of Covid.

·       The Director also featured a 1948 book which was a compendium of chief medical officer annual reports dating back 100 years. This included references to the management of Smallpox and infectious disease, the development of new housing programmes and Slum clearances. The establishment of the isolation hospital at Glenfield was also featured, which again was noted as having parallels with the Covid isolation wards of the early 2020s.

·       Lessons learned from past public health practice were outlined. Links were again drawn again with Covid with a focus on how understanding communities and maintaining clear communication had been essential in supporting vaccine uptake.

·       Secondary factors where from the past were considered such as slum clearance and the introduction of clean water supplies. Present day challenges such as the energy crisis which is creating similar conditions that impact people’s health.

·       The presentation featured a historic photo of two children, one with and one without smallpox that was taken in Leicester in 1901 and was circulated nationally at the time and had supported public awareness of the benefits of vaccination.

·       The future direction of public health was explored, including potential developments in personalised care, genetics and the increased use of AI. The final chapter of the report had been drafted with Chat GPT to demonstrate how AI could support local government work.

Following member discussions, the following was noted:

• Members referenced historic use of clinical vans in the1950swhich visited  council estates to vaccinate against Polio and achieved a very high uptake. In responses it was highlighted that the Council still have a roving heath unit who go to schools and places of worship to offer this service. They offer vaccines such HPV and MMR, as well as services such as blood pressure checks, unfortunately they only have one van. If there were 10 vans, a real difference could be made.
• Concerns were raised that the report did not reflect today’s problems such as the notable decrease in the uptake of the HPV virus, 10 years ago 90% today 48%.
• In response it was confirmed that this was not the purpose of this report and there were lots of other reports that have previously come to scrutiny which go into detail on the issues mentioned.
•   There was a lengthy discussion on GP waiting times and the difficulties of obtaining an appointment. It was suggested that people often attended their GP when their needs could otherwise have been met by other NHS services, which placed additional pressure on GP practices. It was also noted that people were hesitant to contact their GP due to widespread media coverage of service pressures.
• The issue of vaccine apathy was discussed and the impact of information people were reading online.. The discussion focused particularly on the HPV vaccine uptake which had been affected by perceptions of asexual link in certain communities. Therefore, a new approach had been adopted which framed the vaccine as an anti-cancer vaccine, alongside work to engage community leaders such as Imams.
•  The use of AI within public health and the wider health service was considered. Members noted that AI had potential to be beneficial or harmful depending on how it was used, and it was emphasised that organisations shared a collective responsibility to use it ethically.

AGREED:

1.    The report was noted.

2.    The Chair requested figures for vaccinations within Leicester City communities to be collected. This is with the aim of collecting more data to contact Wes Streeting and discuss more funding for Leicester vaccine programmes.