Report of Director of Population Health

The Marmot Review – 10 Years On was published on Tuesday 25 February 2020. 

The review report provides a stark assessment of the fact that the last decade in England has been marked by deteriorating health and widening health inequalities.

A summary of the key messages from the review is provided along with an initial assessment of how plans, programmes and activities in Manchester relate to the key recommendations contained in the review report.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Population Health that summarised the key messages from the ‘The Marmot Review – 10 Years On’ that was published on 25 February 2020’. It further provided an initial assessment of how plans, programmes and activities in Manchester relate to the key recommendations contained in the review report.

The Director of Population Health referred to the main points and themes within the report which included: -

·         Providing an introduction and background to the six priority objectives identified by Sir Michael Marmot in his report published February 2010 entitled ‘Fair Society Healthy Lives’;

·         Detailing the key messages from the review that were presented to a national conference on 25 February 2020;

·         Describing the work of the Manchester Public Health Team to respond to the recommendations.

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

·         The report presented the political choices that had been taken over the previous years;

·         Noting that the Black Report, published in 1980 had reported similar conclusions regarding the link between social and economic factors and health outcomes;

·         The report represented a failure by Government to adequately fund the National Health Service and Adult Social Care (ASC), noting that current indications suggested that future ASC budgets would be reduced;

·         Noting the impact of austerity on people’s mental health;

·         Expressing concern that the data that reported that among women in the most deprived 10 percent of areas, life expectancy fell between 2010-12 and 2016-18;

·         Noting the response in Manchester to protect the most vulnerable residents; and

·         All Scrutiny Committees needed to understand and consider the wider determinants of health.

The Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing stated that the reports demonstrated the direct link between austerity and health outcomes and life expectancy. She stated the report clearly identified and recognised the wider determinants of health and commented that health was a social justice issue and she called for adequate funding from the Government. She stated that despite the continued budget cuts, Manchester had responded by adopting policies, such as the Family Poverty Strategy, to protect the most vulnerable residents. She further commented that mental health was not an isolated issue, and needed to be understood in a wider social and economic context, and mental health had the same parity of esteem with physical health in Manchester. She described that a whole system approach was required and the Council needed to consider health when making all decisions and adopting policies, including planning, licensing and housing. The Chair recommended that he would speak on this issue at Council when he was invited by the Mayor to move the minutes.

In response to the population health data released in December 2019 the Director of Population Health stated that he hoped to see continued improvements in the data. He stated that local data would also assist with identifying any groups or communities that required further or additional health interventions. The Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing suggested that Committee may wish to schedule a report on inclusive health when Members met to consider the work programme in the new municipal year. Members noted that the recommendations indicated that a national response was required, however expressed reservations that those would not happen. The Director of Population Health commented that these would require national policy changes.

The Director of Population Health informed the Committee that the Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, Joanne Roney, was a member of the National Advisory Group for the review and had played a leading role in bringing the Marmot Review Team to work with partners in Greater Manchester (GM), adding that Greater Manchester had been a designated Marmot City Region.  He described that work would continue to influence wider GM policies and this in turn would inform the ask of government from the city region.

A Member recommended that the Committee should receive an annual update on the work to address the findings of the review. The Director of Population Health stated that this could be addressed through the annual population health update report.

Decisions

The Committee;

1. Note the report; and

2. Recommend that the Chair, when invited by the Mayor to move the minutes at the next meeting of Council, address Council and emphasise the importance of considering health when making all decisions and adopting policies.