Agenda item

Report and presentation by Dr Jane Moore, Director of Public Health

The Board received a presentation from Dr Jane Moore, Director of Public Health concerning her Annual Report ‘Primary Care at the Heart of our Health’. The Board also considered a report of the Director which detailed the recommendations contained in her Annual Report. Both the summary and full reports were set out at appendices. The Annual Report focused on the primary care system and its role in addressing health inequalities, with a particular emphasis on general practice. The report was also to be considered by the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) at their meeting on 19^th November, 2014 and then Cabinet at their meeting on 2nd December, 2014. Dr Peter O’Brien, Clinical Locality Lead, and Juliet Hancox, Chief Operating Officer, Coventry and Rugby CCG and Dr Jamie Macpherson, Coventry Local Medical Committee attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The presentation highlighted the recent improvements for keeping people healthy and improving care and quality; detailed the persisting challenges which included the management of long term conditions, the structure of GP practices and patient experience; and detailed future new models of care. 

The report put forward the following recommendations:

Keeping People Healthy

1) Public Health should work with GPs and communications to continue to promote healthy lifestyles to ensure people stay healthier for longer

2) Public Health and GPs should work together to enable practices to better understand the population in their local areas 

Making the Right Choice

3) Patients should have a more active role in managing their health

4) Patients should choose the most appropriate service for their needs

5) Patients should be involved in co-designing services

Collaborative and innovative primary care

6) General practice should be open and accessible

7) Practices should collaborate and share learning

A health and social care system that supports primary care

8) A workshop should be organised to consider the future configuration of general practice in the city to ensure that services are fit for purpose in the future

9) Mechanisms to celebrate and share success should be continued

10) Communication materials should be developed to engage with and inform the public

11) Commissioners should continue to provide feedback and support to practices that are the most challenged.

Members expressed support for the Annual Report and discussed a number of issues arising from the presentation including:

·  The importance of GPs working with all partners and being able to sign post patients to the most appropriate service to meet their needs

·  An acknowledgment of the complex and high volume workload GPs now have

·  The difficulties of achieving active healthy lifestyles across the whole city especially as some residents would require significant support to change their behaviours

·  The mentoring role that GPs provide to other GPs and a willingness for partnership working

·  The importance of patient engagement and the role that patients could play in providing feedback about GPs

·  The opportunities to cut down boundaries, being opportunistic and more radical

·  Reference to NHS Five Year Forward View launched by Simon Stevens, Chief Executive, NHS England

·  The impact of the public sector funding cuts and the likely impact on premises across the city.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The Board endorse the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report and the recommendations set out above.

(2) Arrangements be put in place for a seminar to discuss the implications for Coventry of the NHS Five Year Forward View.