Agenda item

Report of the Director of Public Health

The Director of Public Health presented board members with this report.  The Women’s Health Strategy for England, published in 2022, recognised that the health system has historically taken a ‘men as default’ approach in areas such as clinical trials, education and policy. With this in mind, this year’s annual report has considered key areas of women’s health, with the aims of highlighting inequalities that girls and women face and understanding what this means for Darlington.

Thematic issues and areas of concern were highlighted including rates of self-harm and increasing suicide rates in women.

Questions from board members included as to whether external agencies can be employed in relation to suicide prevention with confirmation that a number of agencies are available to provide support and engagement. 

A board member also queried healthy life expectancy for women and it was stated that, on average, a women will spend 20 years in ‘ill health’ with averages in the North East being worse than other areas.

Board members also noted that their respective agencies are also happy to assist in providing data in areas such as sexual abuse and mental health aspects.  It was also noted that St Teresa’s Hospice welcome the section on “Dying Well” and would be available to support Public Health colleagues in this area.

It was also clarified that data may seem to be “out of date” due to checks and validations required to ensure the data is of the highest quality possible and that certain datasets can be retrieved and verified in shorter timeframes than others.

RESOLVED – That members received and supported the subject matter and that it is useful for stakeholders and the public alike.