The Cheshire and Merseyside (C&M) Directors of Public Health (DsPH) currently meet fortnightly. The key messages from the 2 September meeting are as follows:
- Update from the Office of the Regional Director of Public Health – The DsPH were joined by Dr Andrew Furber, Regional Director of Public Health for the North West. Andrew reiterated the challenges faced by the North West such as higher levels of deprivation, gaps in educational achievement and shorter life expectancy. He set out his vision to build back fairer, reduce health inequalities and improve outcomes. There is already a strong working relationship with DsPH in C&M and this will continue, alongside work with other partners including the NHS in C&M. The DsPH raised workforce as a key priority which was noted and will be the focus of a upcoming North West DsPH discussion.
- Population health update – Ian Ashworth, DPH lead for Population Health, gave an update on key workstreams and priorities. There has been a public health report completed on fuel poverty and the recommendations shared with Place Directors in the C&M Integrated Care System (ICS). This work is aligned to the Marmot team report published last week.
- UKHSA update – There are further cases of Monkeypox in Cheshire and Merseyside and more vaccine is due for delivery this week for the North West. Cases of Covid are falling and waste water surveillance will be switched on in some local areas in September/October to monitor Polio cases. A new UKHSA Climate Institute is being formed which will use evidence to look at the impact on health due to climate change.
- Integrated contact tracing final report – Terry Whalley presented the final report for this pilot which captures the successes and learning from this pilot. The document has links to the evaluation reports from Ipsos Mori and Edge Hill University and assets developed for the pilot. Terry also outlined the current health protection work programme including a focus on protecting the vulnerable.
- Good news and gratitude – The DsPH thanked Dr Sarah McNulty for her excellent chairing of the DsPH Board during a very challenging year. They also thanked all colleagues across the system who have worked on the integrated contact tracing pilot for their commitment and hard work.
