Agenda item

To receive a report from the Director of Health that provides an overview performance management in relation to public health Leicester.  The report focuses on delivery of local and national priorities.   

The Director of Health submitted a report that provided an overview of performance management in relation to public health in Leicester.  The report focused on the delivery of local and national priorities.   It was noted that 11 Public Health Measures indicators, 2 had worsened, 1 showed no changed and 8 were improving. 

The Director of Public Heath referred to 2 indicators for childhood obesity and smoking cessation that had worsened.  It was noted that childhood obesity was measured and the start and end of primary school and there were early signs of improvement of obesity levels in reception classes which may produce an improvement in obesity in year six in years to come.  Work was continuing with nursery and primary schools to reduce childhood obesity.

In relation to smoking cessation, there had been fall in the number of users of the service both in the City and nationally.  The increased use of e-cigarettes was having an impact on the number of people using services to help them to stop smoking.  The Council was also involved in a national study to assess effectiveness of e-cigarettes to support people to stop smoking. This reflects national evidence from Public Health England that e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to health than cigarettes.

There are still major health challenges in the City, with impacts on the need for a range of services including social care. People in the City have long term poorer health at an earlier age than compared to the national average, particularly men. This is due to high rates of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and respiratory conditions.

Following Members questions and comments, the Director of Public Health stated that:-

a)         Previous working conditions and practices of people working in       foundries, mines or car mechanics could be a contributory factor in       them developing poorer health in later life.

b)         The sugar tax is aimed to free up resource for schools to develop programmes to increase physical activity and reduce levels of obesity.

c)         It is not always easy to measure the impact of local interventions compared to wider societal changes in changing habits in relation to health. However, the performance of public health indicators can be compared to other similar areas, giving an indication of how effective local work has been. In some cases, including  teenage pregnancy, the City has improved at a faster rate than other places, suggesting that local actions, such as improving access to contraception and RSE in schools has contributed to the substantial reduction over a long period of time.

d)         Cancer screening programmes are delivered by GPs and other parts of the NHS, supported by national campaigns run by NHS England. These are important in terms of improving life expectancy and early detection of disease.  Good quality primary care was important to improving people’s general health and GPs and practice nurses played an important part in giving good advice and information to patients, identifying preventable disease early and starting patients on the correct treatment.

e)         Health messaging was important to bring about changes in people’s attitude towards taking responsibility for improving their own health and for addressing known health issues affecting the City and should be incorporated into the work of the Scrutiny Review on Health Messaging.            

 AGREED:

That the report be noted and that a further update report be submitted in 6 months or at such a time as the indicators are updated.