Agenda item

Johnathan O’Sullivan, Director of Public Health, introduced the report that sets out the quarter 4, 2023-2024 progress against targets for those performance indicators that fell within the Health and Social Care outcome area.

The following main points were noted in the discussion:

• Vaccination rates remained steady. There had been a 5% increase in the first dose of MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) uptake in the last year. It was also noted that there had been an outbreak of measles in North-West London.
• The community stop-smoking service, Breathe, continued to perform at a high standard. In 2023/24, a high percentage of people successfully quitting using stop smoking support in Islington accessed Breathe directly, with great success rates.
• It was noted that there was an expansion in the number of service users for drug and alcohol treatment. There was an increase of around 300 new service users over the last year. The Committee noted that there was a large number of service users that came in through prisons. The services collaborated closely with criminal justice partners to ensure effective pathways into treatment from prison, probation and police, which included co-locating of services and in-reach support. Officers added that the number of individuals successfully completing treatment was similar to that of the same period last year. This was due to lengthy periods of treatment, complexity of cases entering structured treatment and extended time needed for support.
• The Committee was informed that the most recent national data had shown that Islington had a high rate in uptake of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception, which was higher than the rate in London and England.
• The Committee queried about possible factors effecting completion of drug and/or alcohol treatment, including homelessness and the cost-of-living crisis. Officers advised that there had been a lot of focus prescribing outreach to people sleeping rough, or at risk of sleeping rough in Islington. It was also noted that partnership working had improved through dedicated efforts to build relationships and work together around the most vulnerable cohorts, with notable progress in work with the police and Community Safety and through outreach activities.
• Cllr Flora Williamson, Executive Member for Health & Social Care, added that there was also a lot of partnership work with Whittington Hospital and University College London Hospitals, where there were specialist nurses within the hospital enabling people to start their treatment immediately directly from A&E and other services within the hospital.
• In response to a question regarding staffing within Islington’s integrated drug and alcohol treatment service, it was noted that the service had recruited more staff and was also working closely with colleagues across the NHS and other local authorities across North Central London. It was also noted that staff were recruited into the criminal justice system and in prisons.
• The Committee was advised that Islington Public Health also commissioned a service called SWIM (Support When It Matters), which provided culturally competent, holistic support to men of Black African or Black Caribbean background, who were in contact with the criminal justice system. SWIM ensured that those that required structured treatment were actively supported to access the Better Lives service.
• Following a question on age range and smoking, it was noted that there had been a dramatic drop in smoking in young people.  Data from health checks suggested that most people smoking were between the ages of 40-55.
• In response to a follow up question, the Committee noted that the service followed up on people who quit smoking within the first 12 – 16 weeks to ensure there were no relapses. 
• In response to a question regarding binge drinking, it was commented that there was no specific age for binge drinking and there were fewer people drinking compared to previous generations.
• The Committee queried why the vaccination uptake rates remained steady and if there was any scope to increase the uptake in the upcoming year. In response, Officers advised that one of the reasons may be due to the number of children identified as unvaccinated. The Integrated Care Board (ICB) continued to collaborate with the General Practitioners (GP) Federation to provide targeted telephone recalls to children identified as unvaccinated. Another reason mentioned was that parents were now challenging and questioning vaccinations rather than simply accepting the vaccination offer. The Committee also noted that there was a decline in the birth rate in Islington over time.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.