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ITEM CA17
CABINET
– 19 JULY 2005
ORAL HEALTH/HEALTHY
EATING - SCRUTINY REVIEW
BY OXFORD CITY HEALTH OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY SUB-COMMITTEE
Report by
Director for Learning & Culture
Introduction
- The Oxford City
Sub-Committee of the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny
Committee have carried out this review, into "Oral health and the promotion
of healthy eating promotion to young people, particularly focusing on
5-11 yr age group", with the following particular purposes:
- Identifying
the availability of oral health / healthy eating programmes within
school & community settings, focusing on:
- Areas of
high deprivation within Oxford City PCT areas and particularly
primary schools, which have 20% or more of their pupils with entitlement
of free school meals.
- A target
age group of 5-11 yrs
- Identifying
constraint factors which impact on successful uptake of programmes.
- Examining case
studies of best practice and how these can be adapted to a local setting.
- The Review Report
contains a number of recommendations addressed to the County Council,
principally as local education authority. The report’s executive summary
and recommendations are reproduced herewith (Annex
1). The full Review Report has been sent to
Cabinet Members and is available for public inspection. Annex 2
(download as .doc file) sets
out officer comments on the recommendations and suggests a response
where appropriate.
(Scrutiny Review of Oral Health/Healthy Eating Report - download
as .doc file)
- The Oxfordshire
Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 9 June 2005 endorsed
and commended the report and its recommendations.
The Review
Report
- The Review Report
highlights that there is a need for a co-ordinated county-wide response
to increasing the oral health and healthy eating of young people, particularly
in the primary sector, targeting young people and families from communities
where there are pockets of deprivation across the county. Generally
the dental health of young people is poorer than it should be, particularly
for children on free school meals.
- There are 21 recommendations
within the report which are grouped under:
- Oral Health
and Deprivation/Accessibility to Dental Health services (R1-3)
- Fluoridation
(R4)
- Oral Health/Healthy
Eating Programmes around schools (R5 –15)
- Working with
the community (R 16 – 20))
- Resources (R21)
- The recommendations
ask that we should:
- Draw on good
practice and extend the provision where outcomes are promising
- Seek joint funding
with the District Councils, the PCTs and others for staff and the
running costs of programmes, target support to where families do not
currently access dental services.
There
was a clear view that collaboration with schools and other educational
settings would have the greatest chance of success as centres for
the provision of curriculum support, advice on Healthy Eating and
Healthy Schools standards, the development of healthy meals for pupils
and the communities both before and during school hours.
Officer
Response
- Because of the
wide-ranging nature of the Review recommendations the response set out
in Annex 2 draws on inputs from the Oxford City PCT, the Healthy Oxfordshire
Schools Team (HOST), and Trading Standards and Strategic Policy &
Economic Development (SPED) in the Environment & Economy Directorate,
as well as officers from the Directorate of Learning & Culture.
- The breadth of
the Review’s recommendations fits well with our development of a Children
and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) and the outcome of ‘Be Healthy’. This
programme focuses the attention of all agencies working with children
and young people to help them to become physically, mentally and sexually
healthy, to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to choose not to take illegal
drugs. The Healthy Oxfordshire Schools Team. (HOST) has within it Sex
and Relationship, Drugs, Healthy Schools and Personal, Social, Health
and Citizenship Education consultants, led by a PSHCE Adviser. Some
of these posts are jointly funded. There is a multi-agency steering
group that supports and guides the development of the Healthy Schools’
Programme in schools.
- The recommendation
from the Best Value Review of Children Services, that we should develop
local area level management of multi-agency teams currently being trialled
within the Excellence Cluster and the Integrated Support Service pilot
areas, could be a useful mechanism for addressing some of the recommendations.
The Extended Schools networks linked with the development of new Children
Centres and childcare facilities, can also provide other opportunities
to better engage families within deprived communities across the county
on these issues.
- A review of Catering
Facilities Management (CFM) is currently underway. Decisions relating
to Schools Meals Service may need to await the outcome of this review.
Resource
Implications
- Recommendation
5: HOST to seek additional funds for staffing (currently a proposal
is being developed between HOST and PCTs);
Recommendation
7: Extension of School Fruit & Vegetable Scheme to be costed and
resources identified;
Recommendation
11: Refer to the Review of CFM on completion for cost implications;
Recommendation
12: Refer to the Review of CFM on completion, for cost implications;
Recommendation
18: to be considered when Evaluation of the Healthy Living Initiative
is complete;
Recommendation
19: Extension of the Healthy Living Initiative to other areas with high
indices of deprivation could have cost implications;
Recommendation
21: The funding of additional staffing linked into the existing HOST
would have to be found from within OCC/strategic partner funds.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- The Cabinet
is RECOMMENDED to welcome the Scrutiny Review and endorse the response
on the part of the County Council set out in Annex 2 to the report.
KEITH
BARTLEY
Director for
Learning & Culture
Background Papers: Nil
Contact Officer: Shannon Moore, Senior Adviser, Partnership and Extended
Learning, City Schools, Tel (01865) 428116
July
2005
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