Agenda item

The Director of Public Health, Dr Steve Hajioff, provided the Committee with an oral update on Stroke Prevention.

The previous Social Services, Housing and Public Health Policy Overview Committee undertook a review into stroke prevention in the Borough. The aim of the review was to examine the work the Council carried out in relation to stroke prevention and to investigate other ways in which the Council could improve stroke prevention and help residents better understand what caused a stroke.

The previous Social Services, Housing and Public Health Policy Overview Committee undertook a review on stroke prevention in the Borough. The aim of the review was to examine the work the Council carried out in relation to stroke prevention and to investigate other ways in which the Council could improve stroke prevention and help residents better understand what caused strokes.

Dr Hajioff explained the impacts of a stroke on both patients and services. On average, it cost the NHS £10,000 to provide care for someone who had a stroke, but if that person had to go into a care home, it could cost the council £100,000 a year for the rest of that person's life. A third of care home admissions are for people who have had strokes. All of this is in addition to the human cost to the person and their family.

There was an emphasis placed on what could be done to raise awareness and try to prevent strokes. The main risk factors for strokes are obesity, high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation. Dr Hajioff informed the Committee that since the review, a number of projects had commenced including an initiative to change the way NHS  health checks were undertaken. The results from these were positive as 500 new people with atrial fibrillation had been identified and treated, as appropriate. This is estimated to prevent around 10 stroke deaths, and  20 hospital admissions for stroke. A programme looking into adult weight management had also been introduced with the hope of targeting at least 200 residents a year to manage obesity. Going forward, in addition to looking for obesity and high blood pressure, NHS Health checks locally will also specifically look for atrial fibrillation.

In the Council, mini health checks were offered to staff members during lunch sessions. This proved to be a positive exercise as a number of staff members were detected to have high blood pressure and referrals were made to GPs.

During Member discussions, it was noted that there was ongoing monitoring of people who had had stroke and a variety of services were available to help patients. These services included stroke association which provided advice and rehabilitation and there was also strong engagements with the CCG in relation to early intervention. Concerns were raised about encouraging men to be more proactive with managing their weight. It was raised that some men could find it daunting or less willing to take ownership to tackle weight loss. Dr Hajioff explained that people being referred by their GPs helped. Previously, trials had been undertaken to use commercial providers to try and encourage weight loss, however the NHS model was better as it was low cost and there was no risk of a provider using it as a platform to sell products.

It was reported that communications between the authority and the GPs were generally good, however there was there were challenges in relation to NHS health checks. Although there had been some improvements, GPs were resistant to introduce them for a number of reasons. A third party public sector provider offered delivery for practices. Members expressed concerns about GPs unwilling to conduct health checks and urged officers to be mindful of this issue and monitor it.

Members were pleased with the update and the positive results from the review, which could be seen in the reduction of deaths. Members commended officers for their work.

RESOLVED:

1) That the update be noted.

2) That the officers be commended for their work and positive results.