Agenda item

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services

The Board considered a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and Interim Director of Public Health updating members of the Health and Wellbeing Board on the new local Health Protection arrangements in the London Borough of Hackney and the City of

London Corporation.

Officers informed Members that the local health protection system involved the delivery of specialist health protection functions by Public Health England, (PHE) often discharged through primary care, community pharmacies and acute and community services and Local Authorities (LAs), with their Director of Public Health (DPH), providing local leadership for health.

In response to a query, Board Members were informed that the City and Hackney Health Protection Forum was a well-established multiagency stakeholder forum that would provide support to the DPH in their role of planning, ensuring preparedness and leading the local response to health protection challenges.

Officers informed the Board that Local Authorities had the delegated duty from the Secretary of State “to provide information and advice to every responsible person and relevant body within, or which exercises functions in relation to, the authority’s area, with a view to ensuring the preparation of appropriate local health protection arrangements, or the participation in such arrangements, by that person or body”. Local authorities, with their Health and Wellbeing Boards would require assurance that acute and longer term health protection responses and strategies delivered by PHE appropriately meet the health needs of the local population.

RESOLVED - That Members:-

a.     acknowledged their roles and responsibilities in health protection and be assured that their represented organisations are aware of these and have appropriate plans and arrangements in place;

b.     support and ensure their respective organisations participate in the multi-agency City and Hackney Health Protection Forum led by Public Health, its work and development to help fulfil the local health protection function;

c.     requested clarification of the responsibilities and accountabilities for emergency response at a regional and national level where responsibility is divided among different parts of the health system for immunisation, screening, prescribing and emergency response;

d.     noted the evolving role of the Health and Wellbeing Board with regards to oversight of the local arrangements for emergency planning and response as the system develops over time.