Agenda item

Consideration was given to a progress report of the Locum Consultant in Public Health on children’s health in Oldham. The Consultant in Public Health attended the meeting to present the information and to address the enquiries of the Committee.

It was explained that children’s health was influenced by a wide range of social and economic determinants such as education, employment, housing, transport, access to services, access to food, welfare and financial support, family context and community support.

It was widely recognised that giving every child the best start in life was the highest priority for reducing health inequalities; what a child experienced in the first four years of his/her life, had a major impact on his/her health and life chances as children and adults.

It was reported that, at national level, the Healthy Child Programme was a prevention and early intervention public health model offered to all families. The 0-5 elements of the Healthy Child Programme were a mandated public health function for all local authorities in England. 

With regard to Oldham, the Child Health Profile published in June 2018 indicated that the following areas required improvement:

-       Infant mortality and child mortality;

-       Children with one or more decayed, missing or filled teeth;

-       Obesity in 10-11 year olds;

-       Accident and Emergency attendances

The activities to improve performance in the above areas were listed and explained.

It was also reported that, currently, in Oldham, there were a wide range of programmes which supported babies, children, young people and families. These specifically aimed to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people. The Start Well programme, which was aligned to the Greater Manchester (GM) Children’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2018-2022, aimed to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of 0-5 year olds in Oldham. The Start Well programme was currently focussed on delivering three of the ten GM priorities for children and young people wellbeing:

-       Early Years and school readiness;

-       Mental health and resilience;

-       Preventing avoidable admissions particularly for long term conditions.

Oldham was taking a lead in GM in piloting an approach to reducing avoidable admissions. The pilot was being undertaken in two clusters and would be launched this month with a view to a full roll out across the whole of Oldham by April 2019.

With regard to Mental Health, local authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) were required to work together to develop and implement the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Transformation Plan.

From 1^st April 2016, a new integrated 0-19 delivery model for Oldham had commenced called Right Start which brought together a number of services and providers into a single integrated service delivered by Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust. A key feature of the integrated delivery model was the co-location of health visitors into children’s centres, to work alongside early years and education practitioners, to deliver a range of children’s public health and early years’ education services.

A new strategic framework for children and young people was in place in Oldham to ensure clarity of purpose and effective governance arrangements. The current improvement programmes for the Borough were listed; they all required partners working together.  Whilst these programmes had outcomes for children and young people, they also focussed on the importance of support to families and carers to ensure success.

In June 2018, the Health and Wellbeing Board was asked to approve the proposal to establish the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board which would provide leadership and coordination of the new strategic framework for children’s health and wellbeing in Oldham.

Members sought and received clarification / commented on the following points:

-       Oral Health Improvement Plan - Did every child in Oldham have a dentist? – It was explained that Oldham was doing relatively well compared to other local authorities in Greater Manchester. Figures would be provided at the next meeting.

-       Smoking and use of drugs and alcohol during pregnancy and effects on the foetus’ developing brain – It was explained that Positive Steps was a charity commissioned by the Council to deliver a range of targeted and integrated services for young people and families; these included information and education on substance misuse and their consequences.

-       Nursing support for Sixth Forms and Colleges on sexual health or eating disorders – It was explained that Mental Health intervention planned for schools was extended to colleges and sixth forms.

-       Multiple care providers and health partners in Oldham, outcome of the recent Care Quality Commission inspection and ability to deliver the children’s health agenda – It was explained that Oldham Council worked closely with providers to support them with the necessary improvements.

-       Prevention seemed to be the key ward in this report – It was explained that prevention was the starting point for any matter concerning Public Health and the wider determinants of health; service delivery would need to be effective in the early years of children’s life.

-       It was agreed that Mental Health and Obesity should be added to the work programme of the Health Scrutiny Sub-Group.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The content of the report be noted;

2.    The wide range of factors which influence children’s health and wellbeing be noted;

3.    The current services and delivery arrangements in place in the borough be noted;

4.    Mental Health and Obesity be considered priority areas for the work of the Health Scrutiny Sub-Committee;

5.    A progress report be presented to the Board in October 2019. The report would include:

a.    Oral Health Improvement Plan – figures on how many children had been allocated a dentist; 

b.    Breakdown of figures on children’s health at district/ward level;

c.    Nursing support in Sixth Forms and Colleges around eating disorders and sexual health;