Council and democracy

Agenda item

Item in Focus: Health and Wellbeing Strategy Goal 5, Healthier For Longer

Action plans have been circulated with member’s papers.  PowerPoint presentations will be presented on the day of the meeting

 

 

Action plan and presentation for objective 5A, Reduce Obesity, increase the number of people in Thurrock of a healthy weight

PowerPoint presentation to be provided by Helen Horrocks

 

Action plan and presentation for objective 5B, Fewer people in Thurrock will smoke

PowerPoint presentation to be provided by Kevin Malone

 

Action plan and presentation for objective 5C, The identification and early treatment of long term conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure will be significantly improved

PowerPoint presentation to be provided by Emma Sanford / Mark Tebbs

 

Action plan and presentation for objective 5D, More cancers will be prevented, identified earlier and treated better

PowerPoint presentation to be provided by Funmi Worrell / Mark Tebbs

Minutes:

Ian Wake introduced the item as corporate sponsor for Goal 5 by explaining that the Health and Wellbeing Strategy contains five Strategic Goals.  The Item in Focus for this meeting Goal 5 (Healthier for Longer) comprises four objectives:

·         5A Reduce Obesity, increase the number of people in Thurrock of a healthy weight

·         5B Fewer people in Thurrock will smoke

·         5C The identification and early treatment of long term conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure will be significantly improved

·         5D More cancers will be prevented, identified earlier and treated better

 

Action Plan 5A was presented by Helen Horrocks, (Strategic Lead Commissioner for Public Health).  During the presentation the following points were made: 

·         The national trend shows and increase in obesity

·         An obesity systems map was included within the Forsyth report, published in 2007

·         There are over 100 variables that influence obesity including:

o   Individual psychology including stress, role modelling and food literacy

o   Activity environment and access to opportunities to increase physical activity, what it costs to get active, perception of danger such as can we cycle

o   Individual activity

o   Societal influences such as education, media and TV watching

o   Food production such as the availability and cost of healthy food

o   Food consumption

o   Biology

 

During discussions the following points were made:

·         It is important to consider the types of shops that are available, particularly in more deprived areas. 

·         Schools in Birmingham restricted pupils from leaving the premises during lunchtimes which supported healthier eating by reducing opportunities to access local fast food shops.

·         It is important to note that Air Quality may impact on the likelihood of an individualparticipating in outdoor exercise and the benefits of that exercise

·         Public feedback received from Thurrock Healthwatch was the need to make healthier food more readily available and an increase in cookery classes as part of helping people to make the right choices.   There may be opportunities to create pop up shops that link with owners of allotments who cannot donate food to food banks.

·         The importance of working in partnership with schools to tackle obesity and encourage healthy eating was acknowledged by members.

 

Action Plan 5B was presented by Kevin Malone (Public Health Manager). During the presentation the following points were made:

·                     The What About Youth (WAY) survey 2014, states the combined occasional and regular smoking prevalence is 4.7%.  The WAY national average is 8.2%.  We think we can achieve a 1% reduction in the regular and occasional prevalence and a 6% reduction in the ever smoked prevalence rate by 2021.

·         Reduce adult smoking prevalence by 1% per year.  Achieve below national average of 16.9%.  We will achieve this by focussing on those most in need:

o   People with Long Term Conditions

o   Pregnant mothers

o   People experiencing mental health difficulties

·         We have also been involved in initiatives including tackling counterfeit tobacco which provides high impact at a low cost. 

·         Emerging evidence shows that the use of e-cigarettes is less harmful to individuals than tobacco.

 

During discussions the following points were made:

·         It will be important to consider how to enforce no smoking areas such as within hospital grounds and outside of public buildings. 

·         One example was in Manchester involved children helping to change the behaviour of their parents.  This was done by children creating signs encouraging parents not to smoke outside of the school playground, which produced positive results.

·         It will be important for people not to normalise smoking by increasing use of e-cigarettes

·         The Chair advised that he would welcome more evidence on the benefits of using e-cigarettes and whether they are a sustainable option for Thurrock.

 

Action Plan 5Cwas presented by Emma Sanford (Strategic Lead- Health and Social Care public Health).  During the presentation the following points were made:

·         Within each GP practice individuals have been identified who have hypertension.  There are also a number of people that are estimated to have hypertension but have not yet been formally identified.

·         During the period 2014/15 there are a number of patients that have been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, also known as an irregular heartbeat, who had not been prescribed an anti-coagulant.

·         We are currently working with GP practices across Thurrock to improve their QOF results.  QOF comprises a set of indicators that show how well patients’ conditions are being managed.

·         A new long term conditions profile card has been developed in partnership with GPs across Thurrock.  This will enable comparatives to be made between practices on how well long term conditions are being managed, facilitating the sharing of emerging effective practice. 

 

During discussions the following points were made:

·         It is important to consider how to engage a wider group of partners to support GPs and provide accessible community based services.  This might include pharmacies, community hubs and health living centres proactively checking blood pressure for patients.

·         Board members welcomed the development of a GP score card to measure the management of long term conditions.

 

Action Plan 5Dwas presented by Funmi Worrell, Public Health Registrar.  During the presentation the following points were made:

·         Preventing and Treating Cancer has traditionally been a challenge within Thurrock

·         A cancer deep dive took place in November 2015 and subsequent recommendations are being reflected and taken forward. 

·         The current approach for identifying and treating cancer focusses on:

o   Prevention of smoking

o   Improved cancer screening

·         The 62 day cancer standard improvement plan has been created and addresses the issue of limited diagnosis capacity to increase referrals and consultancy capacity deficits in Essex

·         A Cancer Implementation Group has been established that meets every six weeks.  4 Key Performance Indicators have been developed that focus on:

o   A 62 day treatment standard

o   Cancer diagnosis through emergency routes

o   Colorectal cancer screening update rates

o   Improvements in one year survival rates from breast cancer

 

The Health and Wellbeing Board welcomed the presentation and positive action being taken to improve the identification of cancer and early treatment.

 

RESOLVED:

Action plans developed to support the achievement Thurrock’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy Goal 5, Healthier for Longer were agreed. 

 

The setting up of a review meeting for all of Thurrock Health and Wellbeing Strategy Goals was agreed.

 

Supporting documents: