Decision details

Representatives from Public Health England are invited to the Board to present and discuss Barking and Dagenham’s Health Protection Profile which is compiled annually.

The Board :

(i)  Noted the continued importance of Health Protection issues within the Borough, especially in relation to Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV, Healthcare Associated Infections and vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) such as Measles, Mumps and Pertussis.

(ii)  Accepted the Director of Public Health’s advice and agreed that NHS England be asked to provide further information to the Board on the arrangements being put in place to improve performance in achieving the optimum uptake of immunisation programmes by the eligible population of Barking and Dagenham.

(iii)  Noted the provision of appropriate HIV testing services needs to be considered.  National advice is that, when the diagnosed HIV prevalence is greater than 2 per 1,000, routine HIV testing for all general medical admissions and for all new registrants in primary care should be undertaken. Borough prevalence is at this level and therefore routine testing should be implemented.

(iv)  Noted the need to increase effort to prevent Health Care Associated Infections through key initiatives such as the appropriate use of antimicrobials, appropriate insertion and care of invasive devices and lines, and training in infection prevention and control for all care providers be included in the refresh of the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

(v)  Requested the 15 to 20 age group statistics to be broken down in regard to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and for this information to be provided to the Director of Children’s Services and brought specifically to the attention of secondary schools and colleges.