Public Health England Chief Executive Duncan Selbie visits Oldham

Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Public Health England and Rebecca Wagstaff, Deputy Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, North West meet the borough’s health leaders at Oldham Council and Oldham NHS Clinical and Commissioning Group at the scenic Alexandra Park

Duncan Selbie,the Chief Executive of Public Health England, visited Oldham on Monday (16 October) to discuss the work going on in the borough and priorities moving forward.

Mr Selbie and Rebecca Wagstaff, Deputy Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, North West, met with the borough’s health leaders at Oldham Council and Oldham NHS Clinical and Commissioning Group at the scenic Alexandra Park.

They discussed local public health priorities, including council, voluntary sector and NHS issues, priorities and developments as well as the devolution of health and social care to Greater Manchester.

They also found out about projects which are having a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of residents. These include, Get Oldham Growing/Growing Oldham Feeding Ambition, Warm Homes Oldham, Fit for Oldham, Healthy Primary Care, mental health and young people and oral health in children.

On a tour of the Alexandra Park growing hub and market place, they witnessed a number of initiatives underway linking work on community-led food growing and ambitions to develop social and business enterprises in Oldham, including the Veg in the Park project and the pre-diabetes programme.

Oldham’s Public Health Annual Report 2017 is in the final stages of production and was forwarded for consideration before the visit. Priorities include:

• Income, inclusive growth and welfare.
• Social connection and thriving communities.
• Public health in primary care.
• Commercial interests on behaviour.
• Promoting mental health.
• Public health and the public realm.

Councillor Eddie Moores, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, said: “It has been a pleasure to host Duncan and Rebecca and to share with them the great work going on in Oldham. It has also been fantastic to get their input on how we can build on this work.

“We are very proud of the innovative projects happening across Oldham. A healthy population is essential for a thriving borough and we are committed to working with residents and communities to achieve this, at a time of increasing demand and decreasing budgets.

“Our co-operative approach will help us deliver life-changing services which will mean that Oldham's population will be around longer to reap the benefits.”

Duncan Selbie said “It was a real pleasure to visit Oldham and see at first hand the wonderful work being done. The way the council, communities and social enterprises are working together to shape local services is innovative and inspiring.”