Agenda item

To consider the report of The Director of Public Health, who has a mandatory duty to publish a report annually describing the health of the population and make recommendations to improve health.  This year, the report is called “In Our Shoes” and focuses on the current state of children and young people’s health in Leeds. This includes exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives. The report spans from when the first COVID-19 cases were identified in Leeds, to the ongoing impact as we learn to live with COVID-19 and respond to new threats and opportunities relating to children’s health.

The Board considered the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health entitled “In Our Shoes” which, described the health of the population and made recommendations to improve health. The report focused on the current state of children and young people’s health in Leeds, this included exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives.

In attendance were:

·  Victoria Eaton, the Director of Public Health

·  Kathryn Ingold, the Chief Officer - Consultant/Public Health

The Director of Public Health and Chief Officer - Consultant/Public Health presented the report and outlined the following information:

• The report was nationally recognised for its high standard and child focused approach, providing an understanding of how much children and young people had missed out on during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The report had involved input from a wide scope of Council departments.
• Headline findings and 10 recommendations had been developed as part of the study; these were detailed at page 194 of the report pack.
• It was the first annual report of the Director of Public Health since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the report’s theme relevant since the city emerged from the pandemic.
• An infographic document and child friendly summary version had also been developed.
• The broad scope of consultation and emotive conversations had produced a high-level narrative, using a combined approach with public evidence, real scrutiny of local data and huge engagement with over 260 health professionals to reflect the voices of children and young people.
• The Leeds report had been recognised nationally for best practice as 1 of 4 of the Annual Director of Public Health reports for its robust review of data and the only one to have put the voice of young people first.
• 11 key themes had been developed as; children’s mental health, parental mental health, children’s physical health, poverty, housing and where we live, children’s safety, play and screen use, child development, educational attainment, accessing services, childhood infections and positive impacts.
• The focus on inequality showed the difference between the Leeds average and the children living in areas which fall into the most deprived 10% nationally, constructing an awareness of these unequal outcomes.
• Indicators for self-reported mental health issues were worse when compared to previous data and demand for services had increased.
• Physical health indicators noted an increase in childhood obesity, an initial spike with emerging data after the pandemic having levelled off for reception age children but was still increasing for children in year 6.
• The negative effects of the pandemic had impacted less affluent children more which highlighted inequality, such as access to green space.
• Child vaccination rates had fallen over the pandemic which may put younger people at a greater risk of contracting measles or mumps.
• The next steps were covered by the 10 recommendations with 8 focused on conditions and prevention and 2 on health and care service improvements.

A video was played for Board Members displaying examples of anecdotal evidence and engagement with families and young people.

The Board discussed the following matters:

·  The report was useful to inform priorities as part of Leeds’ Marmot City work.

·  The reference made to health visitors checks in the video was queried. It was noted that most provision during the pandemic had been online and this had been identified through conversations with families who appeared to have fallen through gaps in services. It was acknowledged that this may not have applied widely across the city, however the specific issue raised had been followed up with lead services.

·  The increased obesity levels were concerning as this could lead to obesity in adulthood which indicated a lower life expectancy and health outcomes. Engagement with politicians at a national level was proposed to address the issue through initiatives such as taxation policy.

·  The Healthy Leeds Plan will be an appropriate pathway to translate into funding and action on some of the issues noted in the report and for priorities to be progressed.

(Rebecca Charlwood, the Independent Chair for the Leeds Committee of the WY ICB, left the meeting during consideration of this item)

RESOLVED –

(1)  To note the content of the Director of Public Health annual report and accompanying film.

(2)  The Board supported and committed to deliver the recommendations of the report, including:

a)  All partners in Leeds to ensure the voices of children and young people are central to all work planned, taking into account the Child Friendly Leeds twelve wishes.

b)  Leeds City Council and partners to work to ensure children are kept safe with a focus on:  Prevention of harm and Parenting support; Early help; Reducing domestic violence. Leeds City Council, the Leeds Office of the West Yorkshire NHS Integrated Care Board, and partners to continue to prioritise work to improve and protect children’s mental health. This will be delivered through the: Leeds Children and Young People’s Plan; Prevention workstream of the Future in Mind strategy.

c)  Leeds City Council to build on the success of existing support to parental mental health and wellbeing, with a focus on the development of family hubs.

d)  Leeds City Council to work with partners to continue to deliver a programme of work to protect and improve children’s physical health. This will focus on: Implementing the recommendations from the play sufficiency research; Increasing physical activity opportunities; Increasing access to healthy food; Implementing the child healthy weight plan.

e)  Leeds City Council to ensure that children are central to the delivery of work to become a Marmot city, with a focus on: Improving housing; Planning; Mitigating the impacts of poverty; Children getting a fair start in life; Ensuring the Thriving Strategy is implemented.

f)  The Best Start partnership to aim for all children in Leeds to receive the best start in life, with a focus on children from more deprived backgrounds. This includes redressing the gap in speech language and communication development.

g)  Leeds City Council to maintain work underway to ensure equitable catch up in terms of educational attainment. This will be achieved through delivering the five main priorities of the 3As Plan: Reading; Attendance; Special Educational Needs; Wellbeing; Transition.

h)  The Leeds Office of the West Yorkshire NHS Integrated Care Board to ensure health care services are accessible to all children and young people. This will focus on: Dental services; Mental health services; Speech, language and communication.

i)  NHS England and The Leeds Health Protection Board to increase coverage rates of childhood immunisations.