Agenda item

To receive a report from the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Commissioning and Public Health and the Director of Public Health, giving an overview of the school public health service. Adolescent health is one of the areas of delivery and is the main focus of this report. This paper highlights work to improve outcomes for adolescents, the mobilisation of the Adolescent and Emotional Health Service and the role of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE).  The Committee is asked to note and comment on this report.

1.            Ms Jeffreys and Mr Scott-Clark introduced the report, which set out the new model of service delivery and had been prepared in response to a request for an update on adolescent health as part of the committee’s ongoing contract monitoring role. Mr Carter added that reports such as this would help the committee to increase its understanding and develop its role and that, as part of monitoring service delivery, it would be important to identify what should be measured and what a good service should look like.  Ms Jeffreys and Mr Scott-Clark responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:-

a)    nationally-generated data on the need for adolescent health services should be treated with caution as this did not contain the level of detail that Kent would expect to see as a basis for service development;

b)    young people’s habitual use of personal electronic devices and screens meant they had become unused to making any sort of eye contact with others, and a modern culture of not being able to touch or comfort a young person meant that whole generations had grown up with very limited human interaction and an impaired ability to connect to others and form social relationships.  This would not help them develop good mental health;

c)    asked about services for young people up to the age of 19 or 25, as in other areas of children’s and young people’s services, Mr Scott-Clark explained that the service concerned in the report was school-based and so would not relate to school leavers. He clarified that services such as sexual health, drug and alcohol misuse and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) related to different age ranges and had different upper age limits  A young person in receipt of services at the time they left school would be given a transition plan which would set out how they would access similar services in the future;

d)    a request was made for a full schedule of services available and their status (statutory or discretionary), how and by whom these were provided and how their success could best be measured;

e)    asked how the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was delivered, Mr Scott-Clark explained that all vaccinations were delivered by NHS England and that the HPV vaccination was a key preventative strategy and would be monitored as part of the prevention work stream;

f)     concern was expressed about the reliance on personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) lessons to help deliver public health messages as this was not uniformly delivered across the county.  A more useful link could be to young people via the Kent Youth County Council, higher education and the Youth Service instead of relying just on schools;

g)    it would be helpful for Members to be given information about  the patterns of drug and alcohol misuse and eating disorders in Kent;

h)   PSHE covered a wide range of personal and cultural issues and the way in which these issues were approached in any particular school was important in shaping young people’s own approach to them. Years ago, young people would have been shown photographs of alcohol-related and sexually transmitted conditions and this frank visual approach seemed to be effective in conveying the implications of risky behaviours. Another speaker questioned whether PSHE was even being taught in all schools and highlighted how important it was that this issue be addressed;

i)     statistics were given for the number of young women under 16 giving birth but no statistics seemed to be offered for the number of young men becoming fathers at very early ages; and

j)      the need for children and young people to have regular school trips and opportunities to attend out-of-school activities to develop skills such as team building was emphasised.

2.         The Cabinet Member, Mr Oakford, said how useful it had been for the committee to debate this important issue and said this opportunity demonstrated the value of this new committee.  He undertook to ensure that the issues raised were looked into.

3.         It was RESOLVED that the information set out in the report and given in response to comments and questions be noted, with thanks.