Purpose

The Assembly will receive a presentation on
the LBBD Director of Public Health’s annual report for
2022/23.

Content

The Assembly will receive a presentation on
the LBBD Director of Public Health’s annual report for
2022/23.

The Cabinet Member for Adult
Social Care and Health Integration presented the LBBD Director of
Public Health’s Annual Report for 2022/23, which informed
local people about the health of their community as well as
providing necessary information for decision-makers in local health
services and authorities on health gaps and priorities that needed
addressing.
 
The Cabinet Member encouraged
her colleagues to read the Director of Public Health’s report
in detail as it gave an excellent synopsis of the public health
challenges faced in Barking and Dagenham.  The Annual Report covered the legacy period of
Covid-19 and highlighted its lasting impacts in aspects such as
life expectancy and healthy life expectancy determinants for
Barking and Dagenham residents.  Other
key messages within the Annual Report included:
 
· 
That only 20% of a person’s health care
affected / improved their health, with the other 80% determined by
factors such as housing, employment and their local
environment;
· 
The need to exploit the opportunities within the
Place-based Partnership and locality working to improve healthy
life expectancy;
· 
The need to deliver lifestyle services in a more
outcome-based way;
· 
Local residents were three times more likely to
suffer an avoidable death than the 10 least deprived areas in
England;
· 
Plans to enhance the diagnosis of long-term health
conditions, as 1 in 3 local residents had at least one long-term
condition;
· 
24% of Reception-age children were measured as being
overweight.
· 
Breaking down barriers that were causing health
inequalities, especially amongst those groups who were considered
to be ‘hard to reach’;
· 
Understanding who and why people were presenting
themselves and having better pathways for referral, to support the
prevention and early intervention aims; and
· 
The disparity between Public Health Grant funding
received within Barking and Dagenham compared to other local
authorities with similar levels of deprivation and need.
 
Following the presentation,
points were raised regarding healthy eating and the lower
nutritional value of many products due to ‘forced
growing’, the financial and other support offered by the
Council which had helped reduce residents’ anxiety and some
of the other stark statistics within the report regarding
deprivation and health levels amongst the local
community.  The benefits of building new
family homes with gardens, the need for new legislation to promote
healthy eating and new active travel infrastructure and public
realm improvements to encourage local residents to cycle and walk
more were also highlighted as positive steps that would contribute
to a healthier local community.
 
The Assembly resolved to note the
Director of Public Health’s Annual Report for 2022/23, as set
out at Appendix A to the report.
 
The Chair conveyed her appreciation to the
Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care and Disabilities,
the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee and the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration for
their presentations to this evening’s meeting and their hard
work and efforts.