Issue - meetings

To examine the report received at the previous meeting, provide comments to the Director of Public Health, and consider how the Committee can provide support to achieve the objectives of the report.

(Members of the Committee were provided with a copy of the report at the previous meeting on 14 November 2013)

The Committee examined the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health. Dr Heather Grimbaldeston provided a brief recap of the Report which had been submitted to the Committee at the previous meeting. The main focus of the report was preventing early deaths which were any death of someone under the age of 75. In tackling early deaths in the Borough, Public Health would prioritise action to reduce the effects of the four main causes of early deaths: cancer; heart disease and stroke; lung disease; and liver disease.

Cheshire East was performing well compared to the national average but was not performing particularly well relative to comparable authorities with similar characteristics. Many areas of the Borough had very good life expectancy and quality of life however the Borough’s average was brought down considerable by poor statistics for large parts of Crewe and some parts of Macclesfield. These health inequalities were a major issue for the Council to address.

The following points were made during discussion:

·         It was just as important to focus on ensuring people live good quality lives as it was to ensure people lived longer.

·         People had to take responsibility for their own health to live well and longer. It was very difficult to change people attitudes towards their health however lifestyle change was essential for some people to live longer.

·         To affect behaviours public health needed to target young people early through their schools by encouraging healthy lifestyles that they would continue throughout their lives.

·         The quality of housing had a significant influence on people’s health. The Council needed to ensure it had a good quality housing supply in all areas.

·         Many of the Council’s services that were not health related still had an impact on the health of service users (e.g. transport). The Council needed to examine what could be done to increase the positive impact on peoples’ health of these services as well as health services.

RESOLVED – That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health be noted.