Agenda item

Monica Koo introduced this report and made the following points during her presentation:

·       The annual report covered the period from April 2021 to March 2022

·       The report included details of the impact of COVID and beyond, together with immunisations including for COVID

·       Immunisations – there had been a low update compared to South West England. No immunisations had achieved the 95% target. Measures were taking place to increase the take up in particular groups

·       There had been a good recovery following the backlog resulting from COVID

·       Bowel Cancer – there was a priority to return or overtake screening levels to pre-COVID delivery levels

·       STI’s – the level of these were higher than elsewhere in the South West which was likely to be due to less testing. Diagnosis rates for chlamydia screening indicated that improvement was required

·       The prescription of antibiotics was within the expected range

·       There had been low flu vaccine take up within the reported period

·       Case review meetings to address these issues had been restarted

·       The levels of TB were higher compared to elsewhere in England. Case rates continued to be monitored including areas where treatment was delayed

·       There had been strong community engagement in relation to the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. The situation had revealed inequalities during the uptake

·       Environmental Health – control vessels continued to be monitored. Whilst there had been a backlog of food inspections during this period, the backlog was now being recovered

·       There were strong national and international surveillance systems. A multi agency group was operating to ensure assistant commissioners were aware of issues with infectious disease arising from asylum seekers and refugee health

·       Annual nitrogen dioxide levels were decreasing but continue to exceed legal limits

·       Emergency preparedness was in place involving continued management of a broad range of potential incidents. Local health resilience arrangements had been re-established following the pandemic

·       The Clean Air Zone had now been launched

·       Successes included the continued delivery of COVID-19 vaccine, support for asylum and refugee groups and maintenance of the emergency planning functions

Board members made the following points:

·       The uptake for vaccinations and screening levels for certain services such as cervical cancer continued to be low even before COVID and were being tackled as a priority. However, this area of responsibility was within general practice and required a significant amount of extra work as part of an Integrated Programme

·       Work was taking place to better engage primary care in the process of child vaccinations

·       A great deal of challenges were in place to ensure access was obtained by those who needed it at the right time, including specific groups such as those seeking asylum

·       TB screening occurred jointly with asylum seekers and was a successful service

·       The challenge in addressing health needed to take place as part of a community response and with voluntary sector support

·       The Women’s Commission had recently received a presentation which outlined access to dental care as one of the biggest problem areas for asylum seekers. It was noted that when the University opened their new facility at Temple Quarter, up to 1000 people a week would be able to receive treatment and would help to tackle general areas of deprivation as well as asylum seekers

·       The work of the Haven Refuge Centre in dealing with the health of asylum seekers was noted

ACTION: a report to come to a future HWBB meeting from The Haven Refuge Centre and/or Anne James (Service Manager: Refugee Resettlement) to provide an update on work being carried out for the health of refugees seeking asylum (including vaccinations and cervical cancer screening) - Anne James/Mark Allen (to schedule in Forward Plan)