Director of Public Health annual report

Our Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2023 titled Together We Can.

In this year’s report, we revisit the Hull Health Inequalities Framework and go behind the data, to explore what it really means for people in our communities. We focus on the incredible work led by our city’s voluntary and community sector and look at some of the excellent partnerships and community projects already making a difference through the voices of those with lived experience.

Last year’s call to action was in adopting the Hull Health Inequalities Framework, this year I am calling all partners to continue to operate within this framework and to get behind the Community Plan as a means to delivering a fair and inclusive wellbeing economy for all.

As I publish the report, I am very conscious that we are at another key milestone for the city as we begin the journey to implement our Hull Community Plan 2023 to 2024. The plan was developed with and for the people of Hull. When we asked our residents about the Hull they wanted, among other things, they described -

  • a community that provides for people and enables people to contribute

  • a good job with a fair wage that allows a good quality of life for them and their family

  • a safe neighbourhood and improved health and wellbeing

Our residents are describing what we now understand to be a fair inclusive wellbeing economy. Fair and inclusive wellbeing economies are important for health and reducing inequalities.

Information on previous years reports

2022

Our Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2022 titled 'Where Are We Now? Building Our Healthy Future' reminds us of the health inequalities we face, looks at some of the excellent programmes of work already underway in Hull, and sets out a new health inequalities framework to be implemented at pace and scale for more effectively tackling inequalities at place going forward.

2021

Our Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2021 titled ‘Of Time and Tidings,’ documents Hull’s journey through the COVID-19 pandemic (from March 2020 to July 2021), through the narrative stories and images of local people who helped shape our response as a city.

The report begins with our Director of Public Health (DPH) Julia Weldon’s perspective of how COVID-19 impacted our city.

11 more people then tell their stories in their own words, encompassing a variety of perspectives from -

  • teaching
  • retail
  • business
  • care homes
  • health visiting
  • intensive care nursing
  • vaccinating
  • voluntary sector
  • fire and rescue service
  • homeless support

It ends with some key statistics to convey the extent of the impact and response, together with some reflections and next steps.

With these interesting and inspiring accounts, the report helps tell the story of Hull and our people during the pandemic response.

2020

In 2020, no DPH Annual Report was produced due to COVID-19.

2019

The 2019 Director of Public Health Annual Report talks about population health approaches to understanding and addressing inequalities in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, as this tells us a great deal about how we are doing as a society.

In Hull, like many places in England, improvements in life expectancy have stalled. We have also seen a worsening picture in terms of healthy life expectancy and inequalities in health.

The impact of this for those living with a long-term condition and our society is huge. If we want to address this, we need renewed effort on population health and population health management.

In this report we explore what this means in Hull through analysis of life expectancy data in relation to the five most common causes of death in Hull.

Although this report will focus on those conditions that people most commonly die of, people will often live with them for many years in ill health. The report also explores the impact of living with -

  • heart disease
  • dementia
  • lung disease
  • stroke

both on the patients themselves and on their carers and loved ones.

2018

The 2018 Director of Public Health Annual Report presents a comprehensive look at what is already happening in Hull to promote healthy weight, physical activity and healthy eating in children and families. It also describes what the National Child Measurement Programme is telling us and the scale of the challenge we face, and taking inspiration from the success of other cities explains why a Whole Systems Approach (WSA) is now needed across Hull.

2017

Our Director of Public Health 2017 Annual Report is a documentary looking at -

  • what we mean by 'mental health'
  • key mental health issues in Hull
  • and what we're doing to tackle them

2016

The 2016 Director of Public Health Annual Report talks about how we maximise the health and wellbeing benefits of being the UK City of Culture 2017.