Case studies

For Cheshire and Merseyside, as with many Marmot Places, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked collective action across the region’s nine local authorities to address and tackle existing and deepening health inequalities.

In 2019, the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, already conscious of the persisting health inequalities across its region, commissioned the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE) to help establish a Marmot City Region, focussing on reducing health inequalities in the social determinants of health.

Coventry became the first ‘Marmot City’ in 2013 after approaching the UCL Institute of Health Equity for support in reducing health inequalities in the city.

Every Marmot Place is different. Factors such as geography, demography or the economy impact on the social determinants of health and in turn the local population.

Luton, a town with a population of 225,300, is a diverse community where 55 per cent of residents come from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The impact of the pandemic persuaded Waltham Forest to undertake a focussed piece of work on health and equity, leading to a local Marmot report produced by the UCL Institute of Health Equity.

The London borough approached Partners in Care and Health (PCH) to undertake a peer challenge to look at how public health resources were being utilised. The Director of Public Health saw the peer challenge as an opportunity to further develop place-based partnership working. The process has helped the council know what is working and where it needs to do things. differently.

A Partners in Care and Health (PCH) peer worked with Greater Manchester’s 10 Public Health Teams to improve infection prevention and control in early years settings and measures to tackle Tuberculosis. Two support programmes ran side-by-side over a five-month period in 2023. Greater Manchester report it has established a clear blueprint for improvement.

Partners in Care and Health (PCH) worked with 10 councils in the East Midlands Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) Network to improve partnership working and address common public health challenges. The Directors of Public Health and their teams completed the public health strengths and risks self-assessment tool in two stages. A range of new workstreams have now been launched; and the councils also report the support has had the added benefit of helping prepare for CQC inspections and appraisals.

Rotherham requested Partners in Care and Health’s (PCH) support to undertake the public health strengths and risks self-assessment tool. The work identified a series of strengths and challenges from community engagement to supporting members which are now being addressed. The support comes ahead of a three-day regional Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) peer review later this year.