Issue - meetings

To receive the report of Louisa Bourlet, Community Health Development Officer.

RECEIVED the report of Louisa Bourlet, Community Health Development Officer.

Cllr Alev Cazimoglu, Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care introduced the report and said that she was very excited to receive the funding of £485k through Public Health to the London Borough of Enfield (LBE) from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). It goes to the core of what the service does which is around tackling inequalities which is one of the main objectives and provides an opportunity to address this.

Dudu Sher-Arami, Public Health Director and Louisa Bourlet highlighted the main parts of the report which informed the panel of the vaccination uptake across Enfield, focusing on the disparities in uptake. Information was also provided on the development of an immunisation action plan, which will cover primary care, early years, schools, care homes and many other aspects of the system in its entirety. It is envisaged that this will be a living document with adaptations and development as a continued process. The work of the Vaccine Champions has been a fantastic opportunity and there has been a range of really innovative projects that local voluntary sector organisations have conducted on behalf of Enfield Council. Vaccine is one of the most effective products of health intervention in terms of outcomes and also the cost effectiveness so there is a very good evidence base for promoting this strongly to everybody who is eligible for vaccination.

Questions and comments were invited from Panel members.

The Chair asked how the £485k grant would be used and deployed. Officers advised that a small amount had been used to fund the coordination of the programme from within the team, but the vast majority has been allocated to local voluntary sector organisations to fund work to promote vaccinations and other health issues. There has been a stringent process with the Department for Levelling Up in terms of the proposals and processes established to distribute the money to the local voluntary sector organisations. Further detailed information was also provided on the types of projects that have been funded. Monthly reports are provided to the Department of Levelling Up on how and where the funding is being spent which provides an added level of scrutiny.

Cllr Milne said that he hopes this is creating a base of contacts and a baseline with hard-to-reach groups for early health intervention going forward. Officers agreed and said that moving forward it is about building on the relationships and the work that has already taken place to address the other types of health challenges that exist in the borough. 

Cllr Yuruk asked for clarification on the vaccine update figures in her ward. Dud advised that she did not have this information to hand but would forward this to Cllr Yuruk following the meeting. Action: Dudu Sher-Arami

Cllr Yuruk asked which groups of people are generally more resilient to receiving vaccinations in Enfield. Officers advised that the groups with a particularly low uptake in the borough are Black African, Black  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5