Agenda item

To review performance against the Council Plan 2015-2020 for the period 1 July 2016 - 30 September 2016.

Mrs Ruth Henshaw, Corporate Development Officer had reported on key performance indicators July-September 2016 in relation to three groups - opiate drugs users, non-opiate drug users and alcohol users - and the percentages (%) of these substance users successfully completing treatment.  For drug users, recovery meant not re-presenting within six months. Opiate drugs users had been highlighted as an ‘exception’ with a shortfall in performance requiring more detailed reporting.

The Chairman noted that the sustained recovery rate of 5% for opiate drug users was well below the 8% target. Councillor Cross referred to the detailed explanation previous given by Arif Rajpura. She re-iterated that the remaining opiate users had the most complex and deep-rooted problems. She added the new integrated alcohol and drug treatment service would aim to support recovery through a more comprehensive approach involving aspects such as meeting accommodation needs and developing skills for jobs. In response to comments, she advised that there were no easy solutions, for example people could only gradually come off methadone, which was better than being on heroin and allowed people to manage their lives but the process could take years. 

The Chairman referred to the annual measures to reduce excess weight in children aged four - five years old (target of less than 25% being overweight) and children aged ten - eleven years old (target of less than 38%). He queried why the target in later years was higher instead of focusing on preventing problems in early years.

Councillor Cross explained that the targets were for key stages of children’s development and reflected how high existing numbers of overweight children were in each group and nationally. She acknowledged that excess weight rates were still high in Blackpool hence the Council had signed up to the Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight. She referred to proactive work for reducing excess weight in both age groups, for example free school breakfasts to support children in need of financial assistance and stated that those provided important nutritional value and studies showed that a healthy start supported concentration and activity during the school day.

In response to comments, Councillor Cross added that the content of breakfasts was carefully considered and monitored to ensure there was no high sugar content or other poor dietary element. Reducing sugar content helped towards tackling local children’s poor dental health including campaigns such as Give Up Loving Pop (GULP) which had been highly successful and would potentially be run again. She added that promoting children to clean their teeth would benefit them from the fluoride content of toothpaste.

The Committee referred to the annual measures to reduce the numbers of adults and pregnant women smoking. GPs currently received a cash incentive to refer patients for assistance to stop smoking. However, the £50k funding budget for GP referrals was being stopped and there was some concern that GP referrals would be lost. It was noted that GPs should be making referrals even without an incentive.

Councillor Cross clarified that the Council was the funding body for GP smoking referrals and the value of referrals had to be balanced against the cost.  She added that GPs should not need an incentive to make referrals and that there would be no incentive going forward.

The Committee agreed to receive an update before the March 2017 meeting from Councillor Cross on GP patient referral rates for support to stop smoking.