Agenda item

To receive the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report

Dr Heather Grimbaldeston, Director of Public Health(DPH), presented her Annual Report for 2013/14. This year’s report was focused on Children’s Health and as such the Committee invited members of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny to attend and join the Committee’s discussion.

During the discussion the following points were made:

·         This was the first time the DPH had selected a specific age group to focus her report on. She decided to focus on children as there previously hadn’t been much information available on children’s health and most focus in the borough had been on older people’s health, due to its ageing population.

·         Most services were not geared towards providing children with a different type of service to adults. There should be child friendly standards for all services provided by Cheshire East.

·         9.5% of households were in fuel poverty with rural areas the most likely to be in fuel poverty although Crewe had significant levels of fuel poverty. Being in fuel poverty affected children’s health making them more susceptible to respiratory conditions such as cold and flu, and hypothermia.

·         There were 11 children’s centres in Cheshire East in 2013, all in urban areas. A strategy to consider how children’s centre services could be made more accessible to rural families needed to be developed.

·         Cheshire East’s figures for the number of mothers smoking during pregnancy were worse than the England average. This was a particular problem in Crewe which required a focus of support services in this area.

·         Breastfeeding was less common among young mothers and in deprived areas

·         Families should be empowered to make their own decisions rather than prescribing ways to live. There was a feeling that a common sense approach to children’s health had been lost and that parents expected things to be done for them. Most childhood illnesses could be managed by parents and in most cases Pharmacists would be able offer advice on treatment, reducing the need to see a GP.

·         Members believe that public health should link into schools more due to their access to children and influence on their lifestyles and education.

·         The environmental impact on health needed to be considered in more detail.

·         More awareness was needed of the affects of preconception activity on children’s health.

·         The report was an aspirational account by the DPH and only a few of the services that contributed to outcomes were commissioned by Public Health. The report needed to be used to influence other commissioners to ensure they worked together to improve health pathways.

·         The Committee wanted to see hoe the PDH’s 2012/13 report on early deaths had affect commissioning and whether it had lead to improved health outcomes. It was suggested that looking back at previous years’ reports should be standard practice to ensure they are effective. The Committee also wanted to review outcomes following this report in six months time.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2013/14 be noted.

(b)  That the Committee, along with the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee, review the achievement of the aspirations of the report in six months time.

(c)  That the Committee consider an item on the environmental impacts on health at a future meeting.

(d)  That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health should be preceded, each year as a norm, by a report on health outcomes following the previous year’s report.

(e)  That an item to review outcomes following the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2012/13 on early deaths should be added to the work programme to be considered early in 2015.