Leicester City Public Health

From 1 April 2013, the involvement of Leicester City Council in public health and wellbeing increased as government reforms transferred responsibility for public health commissioning and promotion from the NHS to Local Authorities

 

 

 

Many council services affect health and wellbeing including education, leisure and culture, and housing.

The Public Health Directorate in the City provides five mandatory areas:

  1. Sexual health services
  2. Health protection
  3. Public health advice to the NHS
  4. The national child measurement programme
  5. NHS health check assessment

Further service may be commissioned by the Local Authority based on identified needs. These include campaigns to prevent cancer and long-term conditions, schemes to tackle obesity, and public mental health services.

The range of work covered by the City public health team to help people to stay healthy and avoid getting ill includes:

  • promoting the health of individuals and communities
  • assessing communities to find who might be most at risk from disease
  • controlling outbreaks of infectious disease
  • creating schemes to improve the health and well-being of people in Leicester
  • immunisations.

In order to improve public health, Leicester City Council has pledged to:

  • Work  to deliver and expand upon existing projects and programmes that are already working within the city
  • Develop and deliver new projects in new areas
  • Work with residents to see what they would like us to do to help improve their health
  • Create opportunities for people to improve their own health
  • Work in partnership with the NHS and other partners to deliver programmes to benefit the whole of the city

Health & Wellbeing Board (Leicester City)

Health and wellbeing boards have been introduced across all local authorities by the government. Leicester City’s Health and Wellbeing Board has been set up to look at the needs of people in the City and decide how other services should be developed and delivered in order to improve health and wellbeing through partnership working.

The HWB will help the City Council work in partnership with Leicester City CCG, the NHS Commissioning Board, a representative of the new Healthwatch as well as a police representative to develop joint health and wellbeing strategies.  The aim is to create a better understanding by the HWB of its local community needs and agree the priorities that will set the local framework for commissioning health care, social care and public health.

As a formal Committee of the Council, the HWB has the following minimum statutory functions:

  1. To prepare a  Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/health-and-wellbeing/reports/
  2. To prepare a Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS) which is a duty of the City Local Authority and City CCG
  3.  A duty to encourage integrated working between health and social care commissioners
  4. A power to encourage close working between commissioners of health related services and the board itself
  5. The power to encourage close working between commissioners of health related services and commissioners of health and social care services.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)

The JSNA is jointly produced by the City Council and NHS to identify the health and wellbeing needs of the Leicester City population, inform local strategic priorities, and support the commissioning of services. This information is used to help improve the health and life expectancy for local people and reduce health inequalities.

Healthwatch

This is the new patient and public advocacy body, replacing the Local Involvement Networks (LINks) from 1 April 2013. Healthwatch England  will work at a national level, using local experience to influence national policy. Healthwatch in Leicester uses the experiences of people in the City to help shape local services.

Download Documents

 Leicester City JSNA  JSNA S&O v 6 July 2012 -~mendment 17 Dec 2012
 Leicester City HWB Terms of Reference  Leicester City HWB terms of reference 2014
Health and wellbeing peer challenge, 10 – 14 February 2014  Leicester City final report3
Role and responsibilities of local government in Public Health http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130805112926/http://healthandcare.dh.gov.uk/public-health-system/
Healthwatch http://www.healthwatch.co.uk/

Further Information

Rod Moore FFPH

Divisional Director of Public Health

 0116  454 2034 rod.moore@leicester.gov.uk
Sue Cavill  Head of Communications and Engagement Projects, GEM CSU 07789 868305 susan.cavill@gemcsu.nhs.uk

Address: 

Leicester City Council, City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester LE1 1FZ