Meeting documents
Cabinet
Wednesday, 7th June, 2006
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Bath & North East Somerset Council |
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MEETING: |
Council Executive |
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DATE: |
7th June 2006 |
PAPER NUMBER |
18 |
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TITLE: |
Annual Report on the Health of the Population of Bath & North East Somerset |
EXECUTIVE FORWARD PLAN REFERENCE: |
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EWP |
01370 |
AC |
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WARD: |
All |
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List of attachments to this report: |
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1 THE ISSUE
1.1 This is the third report on the health of people in Bath and North East Somerset following the creation of the Primary Care Trust in 2001. Before that, health monitoring for the area was included in reports which covered the whole of the West of England.
1.2 The NHS Primary Care Trust is responsible for ensuring these reports are produced and published each year.
2 RECOMMENDATION
The Council Executive:
2.1 Welcomes the latest Annual Report on the Health of the Population from Bath & North East Somerset Primary Care Trust with its overall good news for health in our community.
2.2 Notes with some concern the continued presence of health inequalities and recommends that the Local Area Agreement (LAA) should include targets that address these inequalities and emerging health risks in partnership with other key agencies and representatives of the voluntary and community sectors.
3
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
3.1 Many services within the Council are already providing and funding services that support the recommendations in this report. Any further financial implications will be over a number of years and will need to be built into the financial plan as part of the aligning of service plans, corporate priorities and Local Area Agreements.
4 THE REPORT
4.1 The report tackles the health status of the population in three sections:
A description of the state of health of people living in the area using key health measures and time trends. Priorities for action are identified, both for all of us and for specific communities where health experience is poor.
A review of the key actions we can take which will improve our health. This includes:
Diet, being active and tackling obesity
Smoking and tobacco
Sexual health
Reducing harm from alcohol
Promoting mental health
Helping vulnerable people
It is aimed at reducing the main illnesses we face in the 21st century - heart disease, stroke, cancer, chest disease, sexually transmitted infections and mental illness.
Some of this is about people changing their behaviour, some of it is about changing the environment around us so that the healthy option is easier to take and some of it is about making sure the right services are available when illness or risk of illness is present.
An analysis of the main threats to health from communicable disease and environmental pollution. Recent monitoring information from the PCT, the Health Protection Agency and the Council is presented which illustrates trends and the actions which have been taken to protect the public.
4.2 The main recommendations are set out at the beginning of the Report (pages 4 and 5 and reproduced here as Appendix 1 ). It is worth emphasising the following points of particular relevance to Bath and North East Somerset Council:
The Council is aware of the deprived communities within what is, overall, a wealthy area and has policies in place to address this. The Report illustrates the extent to which health and wealth in the population are causally linked and this should strengthen all our efforts to alleviate poverty and improve people's life chances.
Public Health improvement needs joined up action and from the public sector in particular. Partnership working between the council and other bodies is becoming commonplace and should be the norm as far as health is concerned.
One longstanding threat to health (from smoking) is in decline as it becomes less acceptable in society. New laws will remove the habit from public buildings but the council needs to be vigilant and maintain its detection of illegal tobacco sales.
New threats are however, emerging - from obesity, harm from alcohol and the spread of sexually transmitted disease. The Council has a major role in tackling these problems which, if unchecked, will present as major disability in future years. Council actions are diverse and challenging, in school cafeterias and playing fields, in leisure services and our open spaces, within transport policy, in services for young people, in urban and rural regeneration and in its responsibilities to monitor and regulate the environment and the day and night time economy.
5 RISK MANAGEMENT
5.1 Not applicable to this report.
6 RATIONALE
6.1 Public Health is one of the three components of the Council/Primary Care Trust integration project. Bringing this report to the attention of the Executive is to raise awareness and highlight ways in which the Council can contribute to overall health improvement.
7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED
8 CONSULTATION
8.1 This mandatory section should provide details of consultation already undertaken and planned including public, partners, unions, staff, service users, ward members, community interest groups, youth, legal, parish/town councils etc. If none, please state "None".