Agenda item

Report of the Chief Officer for Community, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, which reviews progress against the overarching priorities identified in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Devon 2016-2019.

The appendix is available at http://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/jsna/health-and-wellbeing-outcomes-report/

The Board considered a Report from the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the performance for the Board, which monitored the priorities identified in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Devon 2016-2019.

The indicator list and performance summary within the full Report set out the priorities, indicators and indicator types, and included a trend line, highlighting change over time.

The Report was themed around the five Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-19 priorities and included breakdowns by South West benchmarking, local authority district and local authority comparator group, clinical commissioning group, and locality comparison, trend and future trajectories and inequalities characteristics. The indicators below had all been updated since the last report to the Board.

·         Children in Poverty – Rates of child poverty in Devon (12.5%) were significantly lower compared to England (17.0%) and had been slowly decreasing over the last decade. Local authority districts had not been published for 2016, however previous data had shown that there were higher levels of child poverty across many small areas in Devon.

·         Excess weight in 4 and 5-year olds – More than 1 in 5 children aged between 4 and 5 years old were either overweight or obese. Rates for Devon (21.3%) remained significantly lower compared to England (22.4%).

·         Excess weight in 10 and 11-year olds – More than 1 in 4 children aged between 10 and 11 years old were either overweight or obese. Rates for Devon (27.7%) remain significantly lower compared to England (34.3%).

·         Alcohol related admissions – Admissions for alcohol in Devon (604.1 DASR per 100,000) were significantly lower compared to England (632.8 DASR per 100,000). Variability across the districts in Devon was observed with higher rates across areas with increased levels of deprivation.

·         Male Life Expectancy Gap – Overall Devon had a male life expectancy gap of 5.6 years which was significantly lower compared to England (9.4 years). Variability across the districts in Devon was observed with higher gaps in districts with higher rates of mortality from preventable causes.

·         Female Life Expectancy Gap – Overall Devon had a female life expectancy gap of 4.5 years which was significantly lower compared to England (7.4 years). Variability across the districts in Devon was observed with higher gaps in districts with higher rates of mortality from preventable causes.

·         Healthy Life Expectancy (Male) – In Devon, Healthy Life Expectancy for Males was around 66.7 years. This suggested that males in Devon, on average, were living almost 14 years of their life in ill health (Life expectancy at birth for males 80.4 years).

·         Healthy Life Expectancy (Female) – In Devon, Healthy Life Expectancy for Females was around 66.3 years. This suggested that females in Devon, on average were living almost 18 years of their life in ill health (Life expectancy at birth for females 84.2 years).

·         Self-Reported Wellbeing (Low Happiness Score) – Rates for low happiness in Devon (6.9%) were below England (8.2%) but not statistically different.

The outcomes report was also available on the Devon Health and Wellbeing website www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/jsna/health-and-wellbeing-outcomes-report

The Board, in discussion, highlighted and asked questions on:

·         the disparity of life expectancy rates between North Devon and other parts of Devon and whether there was anything the Council could do to reduce this gap more quickly – it was noted there were many factors that affected a person’s life expectancy, including their environment, their health seeking behaviours, interaction with GPs and getting an early diagnosis however the Council was working with Partners to address this issue;

·         the number of children in living in poverty had increased and the Board needed to access more up to date data on this issue; and

·         partnership work and the need to share valuable information from the Outcomes Report with relevant organisations and look at how we better communicate and share information with relevant partners to help spread messages and important information.

It was MOVED by Councillor McInnes, SECONDED by J. Stephens and

RESOLVED that

(a)   the performance Report be noted and plans to formally update and increase the accessibility of the outcomes report from March 2019 onwards be supported; and

(b)   further work be carried out regarding available information on child poverty in Devon to be reported to a future meeting of the Board.