Report of the Director of Public Health

This year the focus of the Public Health Annual Report continues to be on the City’s response to Covid-19, capturing our response during the second year of the pandemic. This report is a successor to the 2021 Annual Report, The Manchester Difference. The two are designed to be viewed together as a complete reflection on the most acute stages of the pandemic and the beginning of our efforts to recover, from January 2020 to August 2022.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Public Health that explained that, as part of the statutory role of the Director of Public Health, there was a requirement to produce an annual report on the health and wellbeing of the local population, highlighting key issues.

The Committee were informed that the annual report could either be a broad overview of a wide range of public health programmes or may have a focus on a particular theme. This year the focus continued to be on the City’s response to Covid-19, capturing our response during the second year of the pandemic. This report was a successor to the 2021 Annual Report, The Manchester Difference. The two were designed to be viewed together as a complete reflection on the most acute stages of the pandemic and the beginning of our efforts to recover, from January 2020 to August 2022.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         To place on record their continued confidence, support and appreciation to the Director of Public Health and all of his team;

·         Stating that the report was excellent and was testimony to the importance of public services;

·         Recommending that this report be shared across all directorate leads as an example of best practice when reporting activity;

·         Supporting the person-centred approach evidenced throughout the report;

·         That cuts to public services resulted in increased deaths, adding that it was important that the national enquiry recognised this important point; and

·         Recognising the important decision taken in Manchester to test patients for COVID prior to them being discharged to a care home setting, noting this this important decision taken locally had saved lives.

In introducing his report, the Director of Public Health paid tribute to all those professionals and volunteers across the city who had responded collectively to the pandemic. He commented that the report would be submitted as evidence to inform the national inquiry into the pandemic. 

The Director of Public Health stated that the decision taken locally by Manchester and Trafford to introduce testing prior to a patients discharge from a hospital into care home was captured in Volume 1 of the report, adding that this also would be submitted as evidence to the national inquiry. The Committee were advised that following final sign off, the report would be submitted to the national archives; printed copies made available in public buildings; published online and in different formats, including braille and other languages. 

In response to a specific question regarding the legacy of the Sounding Boards, the Director of Public Health described these as being a positive legacy of the pandemic. He said that resources had been secured to continue these models, adding that these were recognised as an important vehicle to reach different communities on a range of public health issues, such as screening services.

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care welcomed the report and stated that it was excellent both in terms of content, style and substance. He stated that this was an important document in terms of a historical record of Manchester’s response to the pandemic. He also welcomed the person-centred approach to the document and how this captured personal testimonies that highlighted the Manchester spirit. He further recognised the importance of this document and the learning to inform any response to a potential future pandemic. He stated that the report was testament to the stated ambition for the city to address health inequalities. He referred to the quote in the report that ‘The Manchester message had to be a bold, brave and trusted voice’ and stated that the report demonstrated that it had been.

Decision

To note the report.