Agenda item

[John Denley, Director of Public Health, City of Wolverhampton Council to present report]

John Denley, Director of Public Health presented the City of Wolverhampton Public Health Annual Report 2017 – 2018. The report fulfilled the statutory obligation and the intention was to open a debate by concentrating on numbers and providing comparisons with priority areas and key themes.

Much of the document consisted of a ward-by-ward breakdown of statistics. For example, with regard to population, a ‘pyramid’ shaped table represented a young, mobile population whereas a table with a ’bulge’ indicated a more stable population that may have other health requirements. The aim going forward was to improve on current statistics and to ensure that Wolverhampton’s deliverable services were amongst the top quartile in the country.

At the recommendation of Councillor Samuels OBE, it was agreed that all figures were to be checked for errors. In response to a question, John Denley confirmed that the goal would be to reach the top quartile within 18 months.

In answer to a question on how the widening gap in health equalities would be addressed, John Denley advised that the Black Report focused mainly on one issue and one service whereas the intention going forward would be to involve other issues. A partnership with various other services, such as the NHS Trust Partnership and CCG, would provide a cradle-to-grave service. 

In response to a question regarding the current performance levels, Steven Marshall from the CCG informed the Board that the Variable Distribution Update for Wolverhampton identified that some small practices had found that there was an imbalance in staff and service users with an anticipated use of 110% but an actual uptake of 90%, which may have been a contributing factor.

John Denley confirmed that the report would need to be signed off by the Board and would then be promoted with the aim of initiating a conversation about public health. A copy would be sent out to each ward and partnerships and, once available to local residents, any technical information would be explained.

Following comments, John Denley agreed that one of the aims of the report would be to help support or stabilise the Third Sector and to determine the possibility of an outreach team to support communities in isolation.

Jeremy Vanes expressed concerns about the achievability of the goals following recent years of austerity and on-going service cuts.  He confirmed that the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust would support the work and that the strategy would be to bridge the gap.

John Denley stated that he would aim to make more use of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and that it would be important for the Board to look at population mobility. The Health and Wellbeing Board could be used as a platform for more in-depth work on whether Wolverhampton had fared better or worse across the City.

Jayne Meir expressed concern that violence and its impact were not included. John Denley agreed that joint working with West Midlands Police going forward could help to create a safe environment.

Jayne Meir stated that the issue was not only place-based violence, but domestic crimes and drugs / alcohol misuse were also increasing issues. The Chair agreed that this be discussed at a separate occasion and that the Public Health Annual Report needed to be integrated with the Partnership Programme.

Councillor Samuels OBE stated that there had been a reduction in infant mortality and smoking in pregnancy over the last 10 years. A seven - year life expectancy age gap existed between wards and there was an opportunity for strategies to address how that could be reduced.

Resolved:

1.    That the report on City of Wolverhampton Public Health Annual Report 2017 – 2018 be noted.

2.    That the report on City of Wolverhampton Public Health Annual Report 2017 – 2018 be published subject to the figures and statistics being checked.