Issue - items at meetings - Annual Public Health Report

83.1Tom Scanlon, Director of Public Health, presented the eighth joint NHS/BHCC annual Public Health report to HWOSC. This year’s report centred on happiness.

Members heard that there were close links between happiness and health. A number of citywide policies including One Planet Living and the CCG’s approach explicitly addressed happiness.

83.2    Dr Scanlon said that there were already a number of positive stories when looking at public health and happiness; older people were staying healthier for longer, there had been a dramatic drop in drug deaths in the city, young people were drinking and smoking less than in previous years.

83.3    However there were still significant areas of public health that needed to be addressed, including a high level (38%) of people at risk of poor mental health and self harm rates were rising.

There has been a change in the type of drug use in the city, moving toward club drugs rather than more established drugs. People who use club drugs tend to see themselves as different from users of other drugs such as heroin, so they do not use traditional drug clinics. Therefore a new drug clinic for club drugs is opening in Brighton & Hove.

Dr Scanlon said that work was underway to try and connect drug and alcohol services with sexual health services. There seems to be a lot of connection between the people who use these services, as drug and alcohol use were risk factors for unsafe sexual activity, but the adult services have not been linked up before - this is now taking place.

83.4    Health inequalities are the toughest challenge – HWOSC members heard thatthere are large health inequalities regarding those at risk of depression, smokers and those with limiting long-term illness, obesity is increasingly associated with deprivation and high risk drinking is now as likely among the affluent.

83.5    Members warmly welcomed the Public Health report and Dr Scanlon’s presentation, and asked questions and comments.

83.6    Members asked how Public Health’s role had been altered by moving back to becoming part of the council.

Dr Scanlon said that it gave Public Health a much stronger opportunity to tackle health inequalities by strengthening the connection between Public Health and other departments such as Housing, Transport, Education, Benefits and Environmental Services. The connection had existed before but the Public Health team now has greater visibility and a greater scope. Dr Scanlon has already met all of the head teachers in Brighton and Hove to talk to them about a public health programme for schools, looking not just at health but at wider factors including arts and culture.

83.7    Members said that there had been recent media coverage about the change in the drinking habits of women born in or after the 1970s. How was this playing out in Brighton & Hove?

Dr Scanlon said that the distinction between men and women’s drinking appears to have been lost. In the past women had tended to drink less than men but this appeared to no longer be the case; women seem now tended to drink at the same level as men now. The health impacts of this can be seen in the higher levels of alcohol related diseases in middle aged women that are now emerging.

83.8    Members said that there was confusion in statistics on young people’s happiness. The Public Health report said that most young people are happy but a recent report in the media said that more young people are unhappy. How could this be the case?

Dr Scanlon said that the statistics that were in the Public Health report did show that the vast majority of young people were happy; however there was no trend data so he couldn’t say whether this had changed over time or in which direction.

83.9    Members commented that they were glad to see that the serious effects of depression and unhappiness were being recognized.

83.10  Members queried whether the drug death figures included deaths from legal drugs such as paracetamol?

Dr Scanlon said that there were two systems of recording drug related deaths – the ONS system and the St George’s np-SAD system which was more influenced by individual coroner’s classification of the death.  It was unlikely that any of the twenty (np-SAD) reported drug deaths were paracetamol deaths but rather related to illegal drug use.

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83.11  Members concluded by thanking Dr Scanlon for the presentation and report, and agreeing the recommendation to note the report.