Agenda item

The Chairman invited the following to the table:

·         Dr Jeff Lake – Consultant in Public Health, London Borough of Barnet

Dr Lake told the committee that the national NHS campaign had been split into various phases which would be implemented locally. He explained that coordinated communications would focus on promoting flu immunisations in October and November followed by self-care and service advice from December to March. He said this would include advice in Barnet First, posters at bus shelters around the Borough and targeted social media. These campaigns would be a collaboration between the CCG and the Local Authority. The bus shelter graphics were to be agreed and printed soon so that the advertisements could be put up in bus shelters in early November.

The Committee suggested that literature on self-care and service advice could also be placed in shelters for the homeless, supermarkets and on GP noticeboards to ensure the message was passed to as many people in the borough as possible. Dr Lake confirmed that GP noticeboards were already on the list but he thanked the Committee for the other suggestions and would take these back to the team. The Committee also suggested infographics rather than text are used where possible to ensure those not fluent in English could understand the messages. Dr Djuretic confirmed that the CCG were working with the communications department to ensure the messages going out were clear and to seek guidance on the best ways of doing this.

The Committee suggested that a longer-term plan could incorporate the use of an App which could direct people to the nearest centre for care. Dr Djuretic said that currently there was no proposal to develop an App; however, Facebook could possibly be used in the future to target specific areas with relevant messages. She said that the results of the campaign would be evaluated and shared with the Committee.

Dr Lake said that NHS England have created a website called ‘One You’ which is aimed at promoting self-care. The website address is www.nhs.uk/oneyou.He said that in future there was an opportunity for an App through this development.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report.

UPDATE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING BOARD

The Chairman invited to the table:

·         Councillor Caroline Stock – Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board, London Borough of Barnet.

Councillor Stock informed the Committee that a report on homelessness would be coming to the next Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB) meeting. The report would outline what could be done to prevent people getting to the stage where they become homeless.

Councillor Stock also said that diabetes prevention and awareness was still a priority, with 23 people having been diagnosed with diabetes at the Brent Cross Diabetes Awareness Week event who were previously completely unaware they had the disease. Another 21 people were diagnosed as pre-diabetic and were offered advice on how to prevent this escalating to full diabetes. She said the high numbers reflected the obesity issues within the population which needed to urgently be addressed.

The Committee acknowledged the issues surrounding diabetes and commented that a change in lifestyle could often reverse the effects and therefore Members should work as ambassadors to promote such changes. Councillor Stock agreed and said that there were multi-factors that contributed towards diabetes and it was not a simple problem to solve.

The Committee asked whether there was a possibility of routine blood testing being done annually to pick up un-diagnosed residents.