Agenda Item 7

To:               West Kent Health and Wellbeing Board

Report from: Hayley Brooks and Lesley Bowles, Sevenoaks District Council

Date:           20 December 2016

Subject:        Sevenoaks District Health Inequalities Action Plan

Summary

This report provides an update on the objectives and actions being undertaken by Health Action Team partners to deliver priorities within the Sevenoaks District Health Inequalities Action Plan.

Recommendations

The Board is recommended to:

a)           Consider and note the content of this report.

Background and Introduction

1             In 2013, all District Councils in Kent were asked to produce an action plan based on a County-wide template to deliver local objectives with partners to reduce health inequalities in their district.  At facilitated ‘Mind the Gap’ workshops partners identified priorities under each objective and measurable actions to be delivered.

2             The first Sevenoaks District Health Inequalities Action Plan was adopted by Council Members on 5 December 2013.  The two year (2013-2015) Plan provided a framework to identify, analyse and evaluate actions that can contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of residents.

3             The Action Plan is monitored and delivered by the quarterly Sevenoaks District Health Action Team partnership (HAT), co-ordinated by this Council.  Key partners on the HAT include: Kent County Council, West Kent Housing Association, SDC Housing, Kent Community Health Trust, Children Centres, Learning Disability Partnership, Age UK, West Kent MIND, Seniors Action Forum, Sencio Community Leisure, Imago, West Kent and DGS CCGs, Alzheimers and Dementia Support Services and Moat Homes.

Mind the Gap Health Inequalities Action Plan

4             The Action Plan sets out six objectives to reduce health inequalities across the District:

·                Give every child the best start in life;

·                Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives;

·                Create fair employment and good work for all;

·                Ensure a healthy standard of living for all;

·                Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities;

·                Strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention.

5             The monitored outcomes and achievements feed into the Sevenoaks District Community Plan under the Healthy Environment and Caring Communities priorities.

2015/16 – Action Plan Annual Monitoring Summary

6             Sevenoaks District Council is responsible for monitoring the Action Plan in partnership with the Health Action Team.  Monitoring data is collected from partners and reported at the quarterly Health Action Team meetings. 

7             A target within the Communities and Business Service Plan was set for over 80% of actions to be on target. The 2015-16 annual monitoring summary of the Action Plan shows the following using a traffic light system to measure progress:

8             6% of the actions are yellow; this was made up of two actions in the plan. The stop smoking library service that was offered by KCC for the first time this year at the Sevenoaks site reached 52 people but was short by 8 to reach the target.  The other action is a 6% increase in crime and anti social behaviour of which the Community Safety partnership continues to address.

9             At the end of the 2012-2015 Action Plan data comparisons, including the 2015 Health Profile compared to 2012, demonstrated the following outcomes had been achieved:

·      A reduction in the number of children living in poverty (2,700 to 2,600)

·      Slight increases in male and female life expectancies (from 81.2 to 81.4 for males, 83.9 to 84.6 for females)

·      A decrease in the life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived wards with a reduction of 1.3 years (male from 4.5 to 3.2 years)

·      A decrease in the percentage of children in Year 6 who are obese (reduced from 16.1% to 15.5%)

·      Decreases in teenage pregnancies (21.1 to 13.7 per 1,000 females), in adults smoking (20.7% to 18.4%) and in infant mortality (3.5 to 2.8 per 1,000 live births)

          However the same data identified the following areas of concern:

·      An increase in numbers killed or seriously injured on our roads (45.1 to 51.8 per 100,000 population)

·      Increases in smoking related deaths (164 to 236.1 per 100,00 population), excess winter deaths (17.6 to 19.6 ratio) and hip fractures in 65s and over (451 to 616 per 100,000 population)

·      Increases in recorded diabetes (5.0% to 5.4%) and malignant melanoma (13.7 to 18.0 per 100,000 population)

·      An increase in drug use (2.0 to 2.2 per 1,000 population)

·      An increase in alcohol specific hospital stays for the under 18s (35.0 to 28.9 per 100,00 population)

Year End Key Achievements

10           The Action Plan demonstrates that through partnership working, we have exceeded the targets set for a number of key actions including:

·      Number of outreach contraceptive outreach services increased to 4 in areas of need;

·      Number of attendances at weekly health walks increased from 5,913 to 6,434

·      Community engagement with Seniors Action Forum members doubled to 630 from 372;

·      Young people engaging in targeted leisure activities in Swanley increased to 779 from 635;

·      Over 500 young people per quarter accessed the Edenbridge HOUSE youth project;

·      Number of people accessing leisure schemes for older people, home library services and Care Navigator support have all increased significantly;

·      Attendances at chair based yoga and postural stability classes increased from 2,630 to 3,563;

·      New external funded sports activities saw an additional 1,766 attendances at new physical activity sessions;

·      Number of families attending Fun, Fit and Active activities in schools totalled 2,144 participants;

·      Over 1,100 attendances at new Dementia café and support groups

·      A total of 94 Disabled Facilities Grants approved to install home adaptations , exceeding the target of 80

11           Participant case studies demonstrating the key outcomes and positive impacts of this work can be found at Appendix B of this report.

New 2015-2018 Health Inequalities Action Plan

12           The new three year Action Plan (2015-18) was adopted by Council Members on 23 September 2015.  Priorities from the previous Action Plan were reviewed and updated by partners using Health Profile data and local intelligence.  Partners identified the following six local priorities to deliver targeted actions for local residents, with a focus of areas of need:

i)      Promote Healthy Weight for Children;

ii)    Support older people to keep them safe, independent and living fulfilled lives;

iii)   Support businesses to have healthy workplaces;

iv)   Meet the housing needs of people living in the District including affordable and appropriate housing;

v)     Sustain and support safe communities including;

vi)   Reduce the gap in health inequalities across the social gradient.

13           At the half year stage of the first year’s monitoring of the Plan, 81% of actions are on target.  Full details of the year to date progress for 2016/17 are attached at Appendix A.

Conclusion

14           The Health Inequalities Action Plan is delivered through an integrated partnership approach to address identified health inequalities and improve the health and wellbeing of residents.   

15           The Board is asked to note the contents of this report and acknowledge the progress made to deliver actions amongst local priorities within the Action Plan.