Agenda item

The Committee scrutinised a report of the Director of Public Health which updated Members on the progress made by the Health Improvement and Weight Management Service, Your Health Oldham, delivered by ABL Health Limited, during the last 12 months, further made by the Committee in January 2021.

The Committee were informed that having a high functioning health improvement offer was an essential component of the range of activity required to achieve better health in the local population and to reduce the demand on health and social care services.

‘Your Health Oldham’, delivered by ABL Health Limited, was Oldham’s Health Improvement and Weight Management Service and had commenced delivery in January 2021 following a comprehensive tender process. In this regard representatives from ABL Health (Mr. Raz Mohammed and Mr. Andrew Leslie) attended the meeting to present an update on progress made by the service during its first year.

The Committee was informed that local authorities were responsible for improving the health and wellbeing of their local population and for public health services. There was also a responsibility to reduce health inequalities across the life course, including within hard-to-reach groups, and to ensure the provision of population healthcare advice. As such, statutory duties for public health include the provision of public health advice on obesity and physical activity for both adults and children and smoking and tobacco, including smoking cessation and intervention.

Oldham’s adult population were less physically active, smoked more, and carried more excess weight than the England average.  These unhealthy behaviours meant that Oldham had significantly higher numbers of people with recorded diabetes, and deaths from smoking-related diseases, cardiovascular diseases and cancer - which were significantly higher than the England average. The major risk factors contributing to mortality are preventable/modifiable with smoking and dietary risks contributing to about one-third of all deaths in Oldham.

Reducing smoking prevalence, levels of obesity and increasing physical activity levels are behavioural risk factors, with strong connections to the wider socio-economic determinants of health, that have the potential to have the biggest impact on the improvement of population health, reduce demand on health and social care services and reduce health inequalities. 

In considering the report Members noted that there were a number of high-level outcomes that the Health Improvement and Weight Management Service were expected to provide (detailed at paragraph 2 of the submitted report), especially in terms of reducing the proportion of adults who smoke, contributing to the reduction in smoking related illnesses and deaths; reducing exposure to passive smoking; reducing the proportion of adults and children in the Borough who are overweight or obese; reducing the numbers of adults and children who are physically inactive; increasing the numbers of residents in the Borough eating a healthy diet; reducing the numbers of adults that have a high ‘vascular risk score’; reducing the number of adults consuming alcohol above recommended limits; and, reducing the level of health inequalities experienced in the borough. The Committee requested that the next report/presentation submitted by ABL Health Limited include progress on how much progress is being made in relation to achieving these outcomes.

Resolved:

1.    That the Health Scrutiny Committee notes the progress made by the Health Improvement and Weight Management Service, Your Health Oldham, delivered by ABL Health Limited, and notes the highlights and challenges of the last 12 months.

2.    That the Committee requests that representatives of ABL Health Limited be requested to attend the Committee’s meeting in January 2023 to provide Members with an update on progress that they were making in relation to the high-level outcomes detailed at paragraphs 2.2 and 2.3 of the submitted report.