Senior Programme Manager for Health Inequalities or representative, One Northern Devon to report.

The Chair welcomed Andrea Beacham, Senior Programme Manager for Health Inequalities, One Northern Devon to the meeting and advised that the purpose of the presentation was for the Committee to gain an understanding of the work that One Northern Devon were undertaking in relation to health inequalities and to then consider which particular areas that the Committee wished to focus on.

The Committee received a presentation by Andrea Beacham, Senior Programme Manager for Health Inequalities, One Northern Devon who highlighted the following:

·       The make-up of the One Northern Devon (OND) Board which consisted of representatives from Health and Social Care, Local Authorities, Emergency Services, Not-for-profit organisations, Business and Education.

·       Structure of the OND Local Care Partnership Board and OND Local Car Partnership Programme Group and how these connected with other Devon Partnerships and at the locality level.

·       One Community Partnerships in Northern Devon. Following North Devon Voluntary Service and TTVS successful Lottery bid for community developers, three posts had been created in relation to health inclusion, youth work and rural work, which had now been successfully filled.

·       OND vision, aim and objectives.

·       Outcomes of the Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2021 in relation to Health in Coastal Communities.

·       Northern Local Care Partnership’s selected data.  This data did highlight the huge disparities within areas of Northern Devon.

·       The four main dimensions of health inequalities, which included: socio-economic deprivation, inclusion health and vulnerable groups, protected characteristics and geography.

·       Health improvement had slowed due to multiple factors including cohort effects, economic, changing disease patterns and climate emergency (heat, pollution, ecosystem).

·       Devon Inequalities gap (Public Health Devon data) and worse outcomes in relation to areas of North Devon. Ilfracombe had the worse life expectancy, health life expectancy and long term conditions.  Barnstaple had the highest rate for alcohol related admissions to hospital. Ilfracombe had the worse outcome in relation to child poverty.

·       Differences within Devon – the North Devon Health Gap.

·       Public Health Data on multiple disadvantages and Indices of deprivations domains for the Devon Districts and North Devon.  This revealed that the highest levels of deprivation were seen in North Devon and Torridge District Council areas, with North Devon in particular having the highest proportion of the population in the most deprived 20% of areas nationally.

·       Public Health Data on deprivation sub-domain comparison between indoor environments with the outdoor environment.

·       Public Health Data on barriers to housing/services by Devon Districts. Deprivation was highest in more remote districts with a sparse population and more limited access to services such as North Devon, Torridge and Mid Devon.

·       Public Health Data on the scale of poverty in North Devon.

·       Public Health Data on social mobility which identified a north/south divide in Devon.

·       Public Health Data on how poverty, rurality and health inequalities interface.

·       Themes from Public Health Data and engagement,

·       Four challenges that OND had opportunities to test interventions in the short-term which included: Poor health outcomes in rural, deprived and coastal communities; large geographical footprint; pockets of high levels of poverty; and poor mental health.  She outlined the data, OND approach and projects or programmes for each challenge.

·       Definition of Health Inequalities from the World Health Organisation “Concepts and principles for tackling social inequities in health”.

·       Seven domains of deprivation which included: income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing and services, and living environment.

·       Differences between “Equality” and “Equity”.

·       Closing the gap on health inequality in Northern Devon. Following the evaluation of projects and the effects on the population, a new vision had been identified. This included the identification of the problem, solution and a new approach.  Partners had been asked to come together to look at as one organisation.  She asked whether there was a role for North Devon Council in Closing the Gap beyond the Council’s own services.

It was agreed the powerpoint slides be circulated to Members of the Committee.

The Chief Executive advised the Committee, that for past Government funding, the deprivation statistics for the whole area were looked at rather than the statistics that identified the level of deprivation within smaller parts of the area.  This had resulted in the Council being unsuccessful in receiving funding as part of the Levelling Up programme. There was a need for the Government when considering funding and the financial settlement for Local Authorities to take into account the areas of deprivation at a sub-district level.  He had spoken with Ian Roome MP in relation to lobbying Government, who had suggested the submission of questions which he could then put to the Minister.

During the presentation, the Committee asked questions. Following questions from the Committee, the Senior Programme Manager for Health Inequalities, OND agreed to provide responses to the following:

·       Factors included within the data for preventable deaths.

·       Provide a map to identify the areas of Ilfracombe included within the Devon Inequalities gap data.

·       The data that was included within the percentage of “involuntarily excluded from employment” and to check the percentage statistic of working age adults involuntarily excluded from employment.

·       Provide further details on the Public Health data “highest rates of people killed and seriously injured in road traffic accidences in deprived rural areas”.

·       Clarification of the role of the new Rural Community Developer and work being carried out in Lynton and Lynmouth.

RESOLVED that the meeting be adjourned to ascertain the security arrangements for locking of the building.

RESOLVED that the meeting be reconvened at 7.41 p.m.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Senior Programme Manager for Health Inequalities, OND be thanked for attending the meeting and providing a presentation;

(b)  That the Health Inequalities and GP Surgeries group be requested to consider the outcomes of the presentation and identify a way forward for the Group.