Champs Public Health Collaborative System Leadership Meeting | Key messages | May 2025

The Cheshire and Merseyside Directors of Public and Population Health met for their system leadership meeting on Friday 23rd May 2025. Please see below the key messages from the meeting, along with items of good news and gratitude.

1. LGA sector led improvement (SLI) review on child and family poverty – Liz Gaulton, Julie Webster and John Wilson presented back the findings of the recent SLI review on child and family poverty along with a set of recommendations for Directors. The excellent local activity on reducing poverty in the nine places, alongside the strong collaboration between Champs Directors was praised.  Directors endorsed the recommendations which include sharing a strong narrative and good local practice, improving access to free school meals and healthy start vouchers.
2. LGA sector led improvement (SLI) review on suicide prevention – David Regan presented the feedback from the recent SLI review on suicide prevention activity across Cheshire and Merseyside. 29 insight conversations took place carried out by David and Steve Peters. Recommendations include adding strategic leadership capacity, focusing on supporting men and other at risk groups and strengthening the governance. The long-standing work on preventing suicide across Cheshire and Merseyside and in local places was also commended in the review.
3. Active Soles – Justine Blomeley from MSP joined the Directors to encourage support for the Active Soles movement. Active Soles encourages people to wear comfortable footwear to encourage more physical activity. Directors were happy to support and promote the initiative in their local places and across the sub-region.
4. Collaborative communications and social marketing update – Tracey Lambert from the Champs Support Team gave an update of recent activity, including supporting the Directors with joint statements and in the media, as well as key projects and campaigns. Items covered included campaigns such as Lower my drinking, Kind to your mind and Simple Things plus the new Smoking Ends Here campaign which launched on No Smoking Day on 12 March.
5. Good news and gratitude – the Directors shared the following items:
   1. Well done to Ruth du Plessis and the team who attended the HSJ health inequalities conference last week to deliver a round table on the Cheshire and Merseyside child and family poverty work.
   2. The Directors would like to thank Tammy Boyce of the IHE for all her support with the All Together Fairer programme and wish her well for the future.
   3. Wirral have won an ARNS nursing team award for respiratory care, congratulations to all involved.
   4. Sefton have adopted a gambling charter, which will be launched in June.
   5. Huge congratulations to all registrars in Cheshire and Merseyside who have passed their exams.
   6. Liverpool’s public health annual report has been commended for the fifth year running and Knowsley’s annual report on lung health was also recognised by the ADPH.
   7. Claire Baker will start in Halton as their new consultant in public health.
   8. Two new groups have been successfully set up by the ICB on screening and immunisations and both groups have developed plans for improving uptake.
   9. Thanks to Ryan McKernan in the Champs support team for his hard work in producing the Population Health Annual Report video.