Our Healthy City: launching council's new public health work

From 1 April the city council took on new public health responsibilities. These responsibilities transfer to the council from the NHS Primary Care Trust as a result of the government's re-organisation of the health service.

The government's re-organisation of the NHS remains controversial and politically divisive. In my view the transfer of public health responsibilities presents an important opportunity for local government. There has been a close relationship between local government and public health ever since Victorian times; local government used to be responsible for public health functions.

In my view the big opportunity now is to embed a new public health approach across all the core services of the council. There are significant health inequalities in Leicester and I am determined that we adopt a renewed and determined approach to these trends. Health inequalities are interwoven with wider socio-economic inequalities, poverty and disadvantage. We need to see truly joined-up approaches across the council and that's what I am determined to see happen in Leicester.

Next week I will chair the first formal meeting in public of the city's new Health and Wellbeing Board where partners will adopt the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the city. This strategy sets out five strategic priorities. I will write more about this next week.

On Friday we launched the council's new public health agenda, Our Healthy City, with a live healthy cooking demonstration in Leicester Market. Our first public health campaign is about healthier eating, encouraging people to make small changes in their diet to eat more healthily. This campaign started yesterday with hundreds of free bags of fresh vegetables and recipe cards given away. There will be similar events over the next few months in communities across the city.

Launching Our Healthy City by cooking a
healthy curry at Leicester Market.

For more information about Our Healthy City, the new Health & Wellbeing Board and the council's approach to public health see www.leicester.gov.uk/ourhealthycity

The Our Healthy City vegetable curry recipe: