To review the report.

Teresa Salami-Oru, Service Leader / Consultant in Public Health, presented the report to the Panel.

Points raised by the Panel and responses from the Officers were as below:

·         The reports stated that 12.2% of RBWM residents smoked, that was approximately 16000 smokers, depending on the population denominator used. Panel Members asked if these numbers could be decreased further. The Panel were informed that the team were continuing to commission an evidenced based service, responding to emerging need and evidence as it was presented. For example they had noted, over the last twelve months changes in how people quit. They noted that many people were giving up through numerous methods and were not using the service alone to support their quitting attempts. The service were intending to respond to this as appropriate. It was  known that many smokers were quitting through vaping, online apps and online services from the NHS.

·         Panel Members asked how did the RBWM statistics compare with other local authorities? Officers commented that our smoking prevalence was comparably better than the England and South East figures; however  the borough were on par with local authorities with similar populations. The Panel noted the downward trend in adult smoking prevalence.

·         Panel Members asked if any follow up was given to people after they had given up smoking and was there any evidence showing that after giving up smoking, another substitute was found, such as sweet foods? Officers reported that the evidence showed that giving up smoking beyond 4 weeks, for example remaining smoke free between six months and one year demonstrated a much greater chance of sustained behaviour change. However it was noted that giving up often required a lifestyle approach, as many smokers often had other lifestyle issues such as excess weight. Officers would work with providers in the new financial year to introduce healthy lifestyle coaching to smokers.

·         Panel Members asked if ethnic minority groups had been considered. Officers reported that they knew there was evidence that showed certain ethnic minority groups were more likely to smoke more than the general population. Locally the borough had fewer ethnic minority groups than the England average and had therefore not targeted such groups. Vulnerable groups, shown to have greatest need, had been targeted. The programme was flexible and could be changed to target ethnic minorities if this was identified as a local need.

The Chairman requested that the Service Lead gave a little background on the project. The Service Lead informed the Panel that since 2016, the stop smoking service was targeted. The Royal Borough targeted three specific groups, pregnant women, people with mental health issues and young children. The evidence supported the rationale for these groups. After a task and finish group was commissioned by this Panel in May 2017, it was agreed that the target groups would be increased to include children and young adults and their families, parents and carers and people with long term conditions.  This would address the issues better, improve their quality of life and save money to the system.

The Chairman asked how the under 18’s had been engaged. It was confirmed that this was mainly through schools and peer mentoring work at the youth centres. The youth service worked directly with young children. The full workforce was working to prevent young children from smoking.

The Chairman asked when this would be reviewed again and the Deputy Director Strategy and Commissioning confirmed that a report would come back in the summer to update the Panel again on the performance and activity.

ACTION: Panel update in Summer 2018 (June/July 2018).