Agenda item

(Report by Mr Graham Gibbens, Cabinet Member for Public Health)

(Mr Mark Lemon was present for this item)

(1)       Mr Gibbens said that the Consultation document had been circulated to key stakeholder and partners for comment and consideration prior to formal adoption by PCT Boards and County Council.  It was crucial that all KCC directorates, NHS colleagues and District Councils were involved in developing the final iteration of this document so that it could be taken to the wider public as the foundation of a public consultation on the various elements of public health provision in Kent and the priorities for action.  He said the six outcomes detailed in Section 18 of the Strategy, presented some challenging statistics which some people may feel uncomfortable about.  However, those outcomes put clearly into context the tasks and issues which faced public health.  In developing the strategy it was important that the County Council should not be seen as trying to impose a “nanny state” but as developing with its partners the strategies and processes which would enable people to make informed choices and live a healthier life.  The strategy would also form the basis for further discussions about how public health in the county needed to develop and in particular, how public health priorities should be reflected in the next round of strategic plans of both the County Council (for example, as part of Local Area Agreement 2) and the NHS.  Further consultation and development of the document was ongoing and this would lead to it forming the basis for discussion on health issues at the special meeting of the County Council taking place in July.

(2)       Meridan Peachey said that the report identified a number of key issues and action areas on which there needed to be more focus.  These included issues around smoking, childhood obesity and teenage pregnancy rates.  She said the document recognised and detailed the scope and scale of public health activity across the county and it would need to reflect and take on board  the views received during the consultation period before being finalised.

(3)       Mr Hill said that the report focused to a number of important issues but that the statistics relating to health and inequalities needed careful and in depth analysis.  Mr Ferrin said that it would be wrong to think that some of the health and inequality issues identified in the report were a district issue as they were in fact more at ward and sub-ward level.  What he was more concerned about was how outcomes would be achieved and there needed to be more discussion about that.  Mr Lynes said that he saw the County Council’s role in these matters as being to highlight issues and bring about changes in lifestyles so that people could make more nformed choices.  He said that innovations such as Kent TV could be used as part of bringing that message to Kent’s residents.

(4)       Mr Gilroy said that he agreed that statistics can be misleading and he recommended that the numbers and figures indicated in the report should be separated out and put into separate appendices.  This was agreed.  He said he also wanted the document to contain a section which detailed and focussed on those priorities which were achievable over the next two to three years.  He also spoke about the effect which the advertising industry had on the choices that people make about their lifestyles and said there were also issues around parental attitudes and how they reflect on children and young people.  Mr Badman said that a key health issue was that of obesity which had risen by 50% since 1997.  This was not just an issue not just in children as the number of adults with obesity was also steadily increasing.

(5)       At the conclusion of the debate, Mr Carter said that the County Council placed great emphasis on developing a robust health strategy for Kent and this was reflected in the fact it was holding a special meeting of the County Council on 24 July to discuss these issues.  He said that he wanted to see the strategy developed into a more concise document which reflected the points raised during the course of the discussion.  This was agreed.