Agenda item

Report of Liz Gaulton, Director of Public Health and Wellbeing

The Board considered a report and received a presentation of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing concerning her Annual Report for 2019-2020 ‘Resetting our Wellbeing’. The report was a statutory report produced each year.

This year the report recorded Coventry’s state of wellbeing in 2019/20 and offered a reflection on the city’s system-wide approach to improving wellbeing last year and in the early Covid-19 response. The report’s findings were informed by statistical figures, performance reports and evaluations from the Council and partners, and interviews with over 20 colleagues across teams and organisations.

As the city continued to live with, and through, Covid-19, individuals should aim to bolster their wellbeing and build resilience. From a system point of view, Covid-19 had drawn attention to health inequalities and prompted a shift in what people valued. Therefore, the report offered two sets of recommendations to minimise the harm of the pandemic and to make use of the benefits gained from the city’s Covid-19 response: one for individuals and one for organisations and Coventry’s health and wellbeing system.

Individuals were recommended to improve their wellbeing and build their resilience by: having vaccinations; having the flu vaccination; eating healthily; travelling by walking or cycling; doing physical activities; and practising the five ways to wellbeing. These recommendations tied in with the Coventry Health Challenge and the Government’s Better Health campaign. Together, they encouraged Coventry’s residents to take action for their wellbeing, which would help to reduce the harm of Covid-19.

The following recommendations for organisations and the city’s health and wellbeing system fell under the four quadrants of Coventry’s population health framework and were in line with the Council’s reset and recovery exercise:

Recommendation 1 – Wider determinants of health

Covid-19 had shone a light on inequalities within our communities. Coventry City Council and partners should continue to build on this increased awareness, and consider the findings from Covid-19-related research and surveys, to mitigate the health and wellbeing impact of inequalities in Coventry.

Recommendation 2 – Our health, behaviours, and lifestyles

Coventry City Council's approach to public health communications and engagement should be guided by lessons learnt and new relationships formed, especially as we continue to live with, and through, covid-19.

Recommendation 3 – Our health, behaviours, and lifestyles

Coventry City Council and partners should continue to encourage local employers, and lifestyle and wellbeing services, to commit to improving workplace wellbeing.

Recommendation 4 – Integration of actions from the community, public sector, and voluntary sector

Building on existing health and wellbeing infrastructure, a collaborative partnership approach, which brings together residents’ experience and partners’ skills and assets, should be taken to strengthen health and wellbeing in communities.

Recommendation 5 – The places and communities we live in and with

Coventry City Council and partners should set up spaces and channels to meet with residents, with the aim of inspiring them to imagine the change they wish to see in their communities, and enabling residents to lead the change.

The Director’s report concluded with an update on progress with implementing the nine recommendations from the 2018-19 Annual Report ‘Bridging the Gap: Tackling Health Inequalities in Coventry, a Marmot City’. This report had focused on health inequalities in Coventry; the determinants that contributed to these inequalities and the work being carried out to address them. There was an acknowledgement that responding to covid-19 had created a shift in priorities across the resources and capacity of the Council and their partners.

A request was made for additional statistical information from the City’s neighbouring authorities and comparable local authorities which would allow for learning from best practice and also set challenges. It was agreed that this could be considered for future reports.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The report’s findings be noted.

(2) The recommendations from the 2019-2020 Director of Public Health’s Annual report be endorsed.

(3) The progress on the recommendations from the 2018-2019 Director of Public Health’s Annual Report be noted.