Tackling Health Challenges in Oadby and Wigston What do local people say? In response to the issues that have been highlighted this afternoon, and in preparation for today’s event we thought it was important to get a sense of how local people feel about the gap in life expectancy, their thoughts on what may be contributing to the problem, their support needs and the things they would like us to consider I will talk you through what we did, who we spoke to and what we learned – the findings are summarised but a full report is being prepared to help inform the partnership work to tackle this issue

The start of our conversation… Bushloe Surgery Central Surgery (Oadby) Rosemead Drive Surgery Severn Surgery South Wigston Health Centre The Croft Medical Centre Wigston Central Surgery Tesco (Wigston) M&S Simply Food (Oadby) Parklands Leisure Centre Wigston Pool and Fitness Centre 6th to 20th February 2019 over 100 Between 6 February and 20 February staff from ELR CCG went out and about in Oadby and Wigston to listen to the views of local people We spoke with over 100 people at 11 locations across the Borough - including our seven local GP practices, local gyms and supermarkets 88 people completed our survey with interest in completing the survey varying across venues Staff noted that in particular, that at venues in the South Wigston area, people were less willing to complete the questionnaire and therefore fewer responses were recorded 88 completedsurveys

Who did we speak to? 37% 63% Oadby residents Wigston Other 65% 26% 10% Although we visited locations across the Borough, the majority of the people we spoke to and who were willing to complete surveys were from Oadby The majority we spoke to were white British residents and 36% were Asian or Asian British The majority were women We spoke to people from a number of age groups with the majority of respondents being aged over 60 37% 63% 16-24 years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-59 years 60-74 years 75+ years 7% 5% 23% 42% 16%

How do people feel about the gap in life expectancy? We asked people about the gap in life expectancy and the majority were worried or worried and wanting to do something about it Interestingly, however, the gap was not of concern to 40% of the people who responded

What local changes do people think may have contributed to the gap? We asked people what local changes they thought may have contributed to the gap 23% of people cited an increase in housing and poor access to healthcare as changes they believe may have contributed Others believe there is increased traffic pollution and poor access to social care There was also a perception that there are not enough GPs, that people had to wait longer for an appointment and that not being able to see the same GP could be factors involved

People’s views of their own health and the barriers to becoming healthier Of the people we spoke to 70% regarded themselves as healthy and 9% as very healthy 17% believed they were unhealthy and 4% very unhealthy Just over 40% of the people we spoke to believe there are things that stop them from becoming healthier

What are those barriers? When we asked what those things are, several people saw age and long term conditions as barriers Others cited difficulty in getting GP appointments and the costs of gyms and healthy food People also recognised apathy in themselves – a lack of motivation to get healthier - and for others finding time was an issue In addition to these perceived barriers, there were comments about difficulty with transport, poverty and poor food choices stopping people becoming healthier

What support do people want to help improve health and wellbeing? We asked people what support they want to help them improve health and wellbeing People told us they want better access to health and social care services free health checks, support services for mental health related problems more information on how to improve health and more signposting to lifestyle services People told us feeling safer would help, that support with employment, learning and training and money management are important A number of people also provided more detailed comments and suggestions

Other comments Young people also need a voice residents need to become more integrated/ more community aware and conscious of the effects of loneliness/age/isolation on the physical and mental health of the district More joint working and better joint working between social services/health and mental health workers/education could improve health I regret the closing of children's centres and the reduction of adults and community education as there was/still is great need for support for young poorer families/ ex offenders/ older people and vulnerable groups with learning difficulties Other comments included a wish for more support for the poor, elderly and vulnerable A call for closer working between health, social care, education and mental health workers A need for local residents to be more aware of community and conscious of the effects on loneliness, age and isolation And finally, a view that young people need a voice and that drugs in local schools pose a threat to children’s health Young people also need a voice

What else do people want us to think about? We also asked people what they would like us to consider as we work to tackle these problems People told us that better access to GP appointments and health checks is importatn They also called for there to be organised activities Healthier food choices And better mental health services

Final thoughts people shared Community services Focus on serious illness - cancer/cardiac Dietary advice Discounted gym costs Health advice locally More services per housing Longer GP appointments Reduced traffic Merge surgeries School sports We had a number of final comments with people wanting us to consider the importance of Community services Dietary and health advice locally Availability of longer GP appointments and closer working between GP surgeries A focus on tackling serious illnesses such as cancer and cardiac related conditions Availability of discounted gym costs And there was a call for us to consider Better management of crime Increased services in line with housing growth A reduction in traffic And the availability of sports in schools

What next? The work we’ve undertaken in recent weeks marks the start of a conversation which needs to continue We need to do more to understand the views of local people – particularly those in Wigston We need to so more to capture the thoughts from people of all ages and ethnicities and to ensure we understand the views of those with characteristics protected under the Equalities Act This will take a concerted, partnership effort and a move away from our most successful but standard engagement approaches to more tailored methods Simply capturing people’s views is not enough. We need to use the insights we gain to help shape and adapt the action plans coming from today‘s events and to help plan ways in which we can work together towards helping behaviour change and to promote and signpost to existing support This is the start of a long term piece of work and I hope we can count on your support as we reach out to local communities in the coming months. I’d also like to let you know that a health check promotion campaign gets underway tomorrow in Wigston – you’ll find leaflets and posters available here today and we ask for your support in sharing with your own networks and contacts Finally, as we begin the most important part of today, our roundtable discussions, please keep the local views you’ve heard in mind Thank you