Case studies

Dudley is a predominantly urban borough in the West Midlands, with five main towns interspersed with smaller towns and urban villages. It has a population of around 313,000 people, and a mix of affluent and disadvantaged areas. Nearly a quarter of the population live in areas that are in the 20 per cent most deprived in England.

As part of the whole system health and care transformation programmes East Sussex Better Together and Connecting For You, East Sussex County Council has developed a system wide asset-based approach to prevention and early intervention with a view to making sustainable change at scale and pace.

Leeds City Council and partners are working on a ‘breakthrough project’ on early intervention and reducing health inequalities through linking integrated healthy living services, community development, GP social prescribing, NHS Health Check, and a range of other community activity with clear referral pathways.

Newcastle operates a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach in which health and wellbeing is embedded across the council.

Leicestershire County Council has been moving towards a social model of public health and away from a more traditional lifestyle behaviour change model. This has led to the involvement of public health in a number of services with a strong emphasis on community capacity building as the basis of prevention.

Oldham has invested in capacity to implement a wide-range of in-depth health and wellbeing initiatives which operate across the council, with Oldham clinical commissioning group (CCG) and with other local partners.

Key among this has been the adoption of a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach by the public health directorate, which aims to maximise how health and wellbeing interventions and outcomes are integrated across the council. 

Men tend to have poorer health than women. In Leeds the public health team has sought to tackle this by getting a better understanding of men’s needs.

The transfer of responsibility for areas of public health in April 2013 from the NHS to local government is one of the most significant extensions of local government powers and duties in a generation. It represents a unique opportunity to change the focus from treating sickness to actively promoting health and wellbeing (the prevention agenda).

Gateshead Council commissions a dedicated substance misuse service for young people.