The Cheshire & Merseyside (C&M) Directors of Public Health (DsPH) currently meet for weekly calls. The key messages from the 26th February meeting are as follows:
- Professor Maggie Rae joins DsPH – Professor Maggie Rae, President of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH) joined the DsPH for a discussion on the future model of health protection for C&M, in light of the formation of the NIHP and public health system reform. The DsPH have produced a slide deck of recommendations, building on the good work done during the COVID-19 pandemic, on creating an effective and resilient health protection system in C&M. This will be forwarded to Maggie to discuss with national colleagues looking at the system design. Maggie commented on the great work of DsPH and teams during COVID and commended DsPH on their collaborative style of working.
- PHE COVID-19 update – Dr Sam Ghebrehewet shared that COVID-19 cases are declining generally but are still too high in some areas. Outbreaks are still occurring in some schools and care homes. A review of care home residents who have been vaccinated showed that the vaccine has reduced hospitalisation by 82% which is good news.
- Cheshire & Warrington roadmap – Cheshire & Warrington DsPH attended an event to develop a roadmap for the year which was useful and will help inform LRF planning.
- C&M Health & Care Partnership (HCP) population health bid – Eileen O’Meara talked through the bid that will be submitted to the C&M HCP for funding on prevention activity. Areas of priority include the Marmot health inequalities work, mental wellbeing for children and young people, physical activity and reducing alcohol harm. A bid for CVD prevention funding has also been submitted. The DsPH endorsed the bids and thanked colleagues for their support in developing the proposals.