Agenda item

Report of Pete Fahy, Director of Adult Services and Liz Gaulton, Director of Public Health and Wellbeing

The Board considered a joint report of Pete Fahy, Director of Adult Services, and Liz Gaulton, Director of Health and Wellbeing, which provided an update on the work undertaken on resetting health and wellbeing.

The report indicated that at their meeting on 14th October 2019 the Board had approved the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2019-23. Since then the impact of Covid-19 had profoundly affected local communities and the city. The initial response phase in Coventry and the UK had focussed on taking action to deal with the immediate impacts of the pandemic on communities, infrastructure and the economy, and much of this action was ongoing as we continue to live with Covid-19. In the spring, the Council and its partners  began work on plans for reset and recovery following the national lockdown and earlier phase of the pandemic, this had been with a focus on improving the health and well-being of residents both in terms of recovery from the initial phase and in terms of being able to support communities to continue to live with and through Covid-19.

The aims of the health and wellbeing reset and recovery work was to: 

•  Reduce the long term harm and inequalities caused by Covid -19 and build on the momentum of the last few months to help re-shape how people are supported in the city

•  Use the learning and experience from Covid-19 to inform how things are done in the future, resetting relationships with citizens by creating greater resilience and not dependency 

•  Continue to work in partnership, across sectors, to harness the opportunities to improve the health and well-being of Coventry’s citizens

•  Equip workforces to operate in new ways so they can continue to meet the demands of Covid-19, whilst harnessing the learning from working in different ways.

This work built on the population management framework that the Board adopted as a cornerstone of its approach to improving health and well-being for Coventry’s residents, but with a focus on the most pressing issues affecting residents as a result of Covid-19.

The report detailed that in May 2020 the City Council jointly initiated work with Warwickshire County Council on a Covid-19 Health Impact Assessment to identify key factors that may affect the population’s health and wellbeing as a direct result of the Covid-19 outbreak. In June, the Council also conducted a resident’s survey to understand both the impact of the pandemic on residents and to understand their key concerns. The findings from both exercises had helped to shape the response to identifying and prioritising activities for reset and recovery in the following areas: wider determinants; health behaviours and lifestyles; the places and communities people live in; and an integrated health and care system.

Under wider determinants, the Marmot Partnership Group had been leading work to reduce health inequalities associated with Covid-19. It had been focusing on a number of key areas, including inclusive growth working with the Employer Hub and Job Centre Plus, support for the economy and businesses and launching call to action. Work related to health behaviours and lifestyles included sustainable travel, physical activity and reducing smoking and alcohol consumption. Key areas of work relating to the places and communities people live in had centred on developing the emergency food response, establishing community networks, supporting the voluntary and community sectors with grant funding, supporting places of worship and faith groups, and working with migrant health champions. Under the integrated health and care system, health and care partners had been working together on Phase 2 of the NHS Reset and Recovery Plan.

Work during the summer had focused on the short to medium term actions to mitigate against the negative impact of Covid-19 on the health and well-being of local communities. However, Covid-19 had amplified health inequalities across the board and in order to prepare for and manage the longer term impact of Covid-19, each of the groups and boards that report to the Health and Well-being Board would be asked to lead on the additional priorities that had arisen as a result of Covid-19, and reflect these in their plans and activities.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The report and the proposed next steps be noted.

(2) The inclusion of the new priorities that have arisen due to Covid-19 and the resulting action plan within the existing work of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the work of the boards and groups that report to the Health and Wellbeing Board be approved.