Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report of the Public Health Specialist which sought to inform the Sub-Committee of the progress on all age oral health improvement activity currently being delivered across Oldham. The information was presented by the Interim Director of Public Health.

It was reported that considerable attention was dedicated to children and young people’s oral health as this affected their quality of life; this also applied to older adults. In Oldham, significant improvements had been registered since 2012/13 when five in ten five-year-old children had showed dental decay against three in ten children in 2016/17. It was explained that services had systematically applied evidence based oral health interventions. Oral health had been embedded in a wide range of primary care services. Teachers, Health Visitors and Early Years professionals were all involved in this process. The Big Brush Campaign had taken place to promote access to dental care. Last month, over 60% of children in Oldham had seen a dentist. The average in England was 70%. Greater Manchester funded supervised teeth brushing programmes in Early Years settings.

With regard to the new area of work represented by elderly people, it was reported that the objective was to apply learning from engaging with different professionals such as those from Intermediate Care settings in order to develop an understanding of the importance of good oral health in elderly people. This would take place via training provision, general awareness and improving pathways to secondary care.

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

-       Existing issues/barriers and opportunities to reach young people – It was explained that five-year-old children were targeted as they were more receptive to change and therefore more likely to carry on healthy habits. There were opportunities to work with Youth Council to divulge oral health message.

-       Other healthy lifestyle campaigns – It was explained that “five a day” was still a message within the Healthy Lifestyle campaign. However, it was still being implemented. The challenge was to find ways to support people to undertake those changes. Through the Early Years approach, school meal service in primary schools had been commended for delivering very healthy food options for children. Secondary schools presented a greater challenge in implementing the necessary change; the school meal service was provided by private companies. It was agreed that this was an opportunity to promote the Healthy Living message in secondary schools via the Mayor’s Healthy Living Campaign and the Oldham Learning Festival next year.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The content of the report be noted;

2.    The progress and actions in the Pre-school Children’s Oral Health Improvement Strategy be noted;

3.    The actions identified in the oral health improvement programme for vulnerable older people in care homes, care at home, intermediate care and secondary care be endorsed;

4.    The implementation of evidence based oral health interventions and national guidance across all ages in Oldham continue to be supported.

5.    A progress report on oral health be presented to this Sub-Committee in 2020.

6.    A meeting be arranged with Education Services to develop an opportunity within Oldham Learning Festival in June 2019 to promote the Mayor’s Healthy Living Campaign to engage with secondary schools and the Youth Council.