For my annual report summarising 2022, I will cover three areas. The first is a discussion around Thrive Plymouth , reflecting back on the origins of the programme, and looking ahead to what the future holds. Were it not for the hold put on the programme due to Covid19, we would be reaching the start of the 10th year of our ten year programme; and so it is timely to review. In the second chapter, I have included some information on what is measured around the health of the population, and what that is telling us. The short story here is a mixed and complex picture, where the national and global situation needs to be taken into account since it impacts on the health and wellbeing of people in Plymouth. The third chapter reports on some of the indicators linked to Thrive Plymouth and of course to life expectancy.
There are some very significant positives, with life expectancy in Plymouth, for men and women, the longest compared to our statistically similar areas (though shorter than for England on average). We also have the smallest gap in life expectancy between the most deprived and the wealthiest groups across all of these statistical neighbours and compared to England; this combination of high average LE and a small gap is exactly what we would hope to see when health inequalities are successfully being reduced.
But this is against a backdrop of difficult times. First, there was a slowing down of the growth in LE nationally, for around a decade, linked to austerity. See my DPH report for 2019 for more details around that. This was of course followed by a global pandemic; there have been 223,185 deaths with Covid19 on the death certificate in the UK to date (coronavirus.data.gov.uk). With the pandemic came multiple challenges, with mental health and wellbeing impacted as well as the economy, and now we have been plunged into a cost of living crisis with high inflationary costs of food and fuel. Wage rises have been behind and so every month the gap between household income and outgoings increases. Even when we see inflation reducing, it is unlikely that we will see costs fall as quickly – if at all – and so we will still see many households struggling.
In this context, it is clear that the challenge to continue to reduce inequality and to improve other factors such as the length of life lived in good health, should not be underestimated.
Finally, I have included, a number of updates around key public health topics, including those where the public health grant supports the commissioning of services. These include a range of varied services, from health visitors who do such a lot to help to set babies and their families on the right course for health and wellbeing, to treatment services, supporting those who already have challenges to their health which they are working to overcome.
Public health is not about a Director, or a team, or even the people working in those wider commissioned services. It is about everyone all pulling together to try to nudge things in the right direction, each of us knowing that our individual contribution is small, but together we can make a difference. We have seen this working in Plymouth, and I would like to thank all of those who have been working together across the city. Please keep going and when you remember the struggle, think of the voices of those who you have helped.