Agenda item

14:30

An Annual Report is a statutory duty of the Director of Public Health and it is a duty of the County Council to publish the report.  The Director of Public Health for Oxfordshire will present a draft of his Annual Report for 2018/19.

He will also present an update on the 2017/18 recommendations for 2018/19.

Ansaf Azhar presented a draft of his annual report.  It is a statutory requirement for the Director of Public Health to deliver an annual report by the 31 March.  Traditionally this has been a rich set of data but this year he is taking a different approach and using the report to signal a new direction – a focus on inequalities.

While across Oxfordshire most performance indicators are green, if you look at the ten wards that contain areas that are among the most deprived in the country, you see a lot of red ratings.  There is a 15-year life expectancy gap in some cases.

The new approach will be driven by a prevention framework.  This year the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) will take the three most deprived wards and create a ward profile which will include health data, community insight and mapping of community assets.  This will help identify solutions particular to that area.  The first to be profiled will be Banbury Ruscote and then Blackbird Leys.

The Chairman thanked the Director for his presentation.  He noted the success of the FAST Card in Banbury which is encouraging more physical activity in areas where this was lacking.  Ansaf Azhar added that the card’s success has led to it being expanded to Bicester and Kidlington.

Councillor Alison Rooke asked how progress will be measured.  Ansaf Azhar said that there are recommendations from various bodies on what to measure and these will be included in the plan.

Councillor Nadine Bély Summers asked if Littlemore will be included in the ward profiles.  Ansaf Azhar responded that the second area may not be just Blackbird Leys but all of the Leys.

Councillor Mark Cherry said that he looked forward to meeting the Director in Banbury Ruscote.  The difficulties there included a lack of social housing and educational attainment.  Ansaf Azhar agreed that they needed to take the community with them.  This would involve culture change.

Barbara Shaw stated that they need to work closely with education to get the message out, to change the aspirations of people who currently have to focus on living day to day.  She asked how the plan would be rural-proofed.

Ansaf Azhar responded that they would work with Town Councils to understand the problems in their areas.  He also believed simply walking around the areas was very useful.

District Councillor Paul Barrow welcomed the development of healthy new towns but asked how existing communities can be ‘retrofitted’.  Ansaf Azhar responded that every place had a different solution.  It’s about community activation.

Councillor Alison Rooke asked if there was any duplication between the ward profile work and the needs framework as used on OX12.  She also noted that tangible changes of this kind can take a long time – perhaps 10 or 20 years.

Ansaf Azhar gave the example of Banbury which, as a town, is not much different from the national average.  However, at ward level there are big differences.  He believed that there were some quick wins in prevention.  The measurements of success will include qualitative information from the public.

Councillor Nick Carter stressed the importance of housing where district councils have a big responsibility.  The quality of housing has a bearing on health issues.

Ansaf Azhar said that he recognised the importance of other organisations – this was not just a County Council responsibility.  He concluded by notifying the meeting that on 11 March the County will announce a commitment to make Oxfordshire smoking-free by 2025.

The Chairman thanked the Director for his report.  The Committee AGREED that the final version of the report should be produced in portrait format for ease of reading.