Agenda item

Each year the Director of Public Health produces an annual report on the health of the population. 

This year the report focuses on mental health.  The Director of Public Health Annual Report 2023 describes the factors that support good mental health, identifies groups that are at risk of poorer mental health and makes recommendations for the Council and its partners to promote mental health and wellbeing.  The report is a call to action for partners in Buckinghamshire.  Partner organisations will be asked to reflect the recommendations in existing multi-agency plans, for the Start Well, Live Well and Age Well Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy.

Presenter:

Jane O’Grady, Director of Public Health

Papers:

Director of Public Health Annual Report 2023, Mental Health Matters – Executive Summary

Director of Public Health Annual Report 2023, Mental Health Matters – Full report

The Chairman welcomed Dr Jane O’Grady, Director of Public Health, to the meeting.

The Chairman said that although this was about this years’ mental health report, in future the Committee would like to see evidence of how the recommendations in the annual report had led to improvements across the system.  The Director of Public Health  explained that the recommendations in last years’ annual report on cardio-vascular disease were aimed at, and delivered by, a wide range of organisations including primary and secondary healthcare providers.   Improvements had been made in a number of indicators and an update had been provided to the Health & Wellbeing Board and the Opportunity Bucks Board.  It was agreed to bring an update, with partners, to a future meeting.

Action: Director of Public Health

The Director of Public Health urged Members to support the legislation for a smoke free generation.

In introducing the 2023 annual report, entitled “Mental Health Matters”, the Director of Public Health noted that the report did not deal with the huge subject of mental illness, but focussed on promoting good mental health and what the council and its partners could do to promote this. She further pointed out that one of the most important areas to focus on was supporting mental health in pregnant women and supporting children in their early years.

During the discussion, the following key points were made:

• A Member was pleased to note that childhood trauma was mentioned in the report.  She was concerned that there had been insufficient support for children given that there was a three-year waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She asked about the KPIs, actions and specific outcomes.  The Chairman added that the report is a challenge for HASC as a scrutiny committee as it does not contain certain data.  The Director of Public Health explained that the committee had early sight of the report and that the report would then be disseminated to partner organisations for action.  Partners would incorporate their actions into existing multi-agency action plans to support the mental health of adults and children and that these would be monitored by the Health & Wellbeing Board.
• The Chairman asked if there was a list of organisations which were expected to take up the recommendations of the report.  The Director of Public Health mentioned Oxford Mental Health and the wider NHS, the public health team, planners and Opportunity Bucks.  She explained that the report would be used by the public health team to hold partners to account, however, it was up to partners to decide how they wanted to respond to the report as they would know best what they could do within their organisation.
• In response to a  question about measuring the outcomes of those groups identified in the report, the Director of Public Health mentioned a survey of 50% of schools to explore the health of primary and secondary school pupils. The waiting list for CAHMS was also a priority and Oxford Health would be able to supply further information on this.
• A Member expressed concern about some aspects of children’s health being adversely affected by a lack of funding, particularly in relation to work with children outside school.  The Director of Public Health explained that some additional funding had been made available through bidding to Hearts of Bucks against the mental health wellbeing fund, but that Community Boards may also support projects.

·      In response to a question on “Be Healthy Bucks”, the Director of Public Health explained that the service helped people change their behaviour, such as stopping smoking, losing weight and being more active. Be Healthy Bucks had started in April 2023 and patients had had good outcomes once they had been referred to the service.   The public health team produced quarterly reports on all public health activity and what services were available which were circulated to Members. The Director of Public Health agreed to look into whether all Members were receiving these quarterly updates after the meeting.

                                                                                            Action: Director of Public Health

• A Member asked who the report was aimed at and how much it had cost to produce.  In response, the Director of Public Health said that the report was for partners and also could be useful for members of the public.   She explained that the report was a statutory responsibility of the public health team and was written by the public health team as part of their job and  produced internally by the Communications team. It would be published on the council’s web site and include links to helpful information.
• In response to a question on the change in name from Live Well Stay Well to Be Healthy Bucks, the Director of Public Health explained that the service was now being run by a new provider who had been successful in the tendering process.  The new provider was using their name for the services they  offered but they were very similar to previous services, but with an added provision for people who were drinking too much but did not yet require the alcohol dependency treatment services.
• A Member commended the annual report and noted that it could be a guide to get mental health support services commissioned.
• In response to a Member question, the Director of Public Health explained that the report’s function was not to give feedback on mental health services. Detailed data and monitoring information was included in the Health & Wellbeing Board reports.
• A Member asked if the report could be used to persuade schools to fund music lessons as a way of promoting good mental health. The Director of Public Health explained that the report had been shared with the corporate management team and would be shared with schools but public health colleagues could not influence what individual schools did.
• In response to a Member question about how the report is promoted to schools, the Director of Public Health explained that there was no specific budget for promoting the report but that it would be disseminated by school nurses and health visitors.  Public Health worked closely with the NHS and the GP provider alliance.
• The Chairman suggested to Members that it would be more productive if the Director of Public Health attended the committee with the relevant partners six months after the publication of the annual report. The Director of Public Health welcomed this suggestion and the Chairman agreed to look into the process after the meeting with the scrutiny officer. 

                                                             Action:  Chairman and Principal Scrutiny Officer