Chair Report – February 2012
Author: Professor Sir Mansel Aylward CB, Chair, Public Health Wales
Date: 07 February 2012 / Version: 0
Distribution:
· Public Health Wales Board
Purpose and Summary of Document:
The purpose of this paper is to provide the Public Health Wales Board with a written update, which includes information on a number of strategic developments and issues. These include:
· Bevan Commission
· A Sacred Flame: The Glyncorrwg project 1961 – 1992 and reflections on NHS policy in Wales
· Review of Scientific Evidence for the Eradication of Bovine TB in Wales
· Ministerial National Advisory Board
· Board Away Day / board development
· Honorary Professor, University of Auckland and Ko Awatea Stevenson Chair
· Appraisal by Minister for Health and Social Services
· Reappointment of Non Executive Director
· Conferences/Presentations
o All Wales Mental Health Promotion Network Annual Conference
o Denis D’Auria Award Ceremony
o Cochrane Colloquium
Who will present:
Mr John Spence, Vice Chair
Documents attached:
None
Date of Board meeting:
23 February 2012
Committee/Groups that have received or considered this paper:
None
Please state of the paper is for:
Discussion
Decision
Information / x
Date: 07/02/12 / Version: 0 / Page: 5 of 6
Public Health Wales / Chair Report – February 2012
1 Bevan Commission First Meeting
The first meeting of the reconvened Bevan Commission took place on Friday 20 January. The meeting was attended by all those invited to join the Commission:
· Professor Bim Bhowmick OBE, Consultant Physician for the Elderly in Community Care, Anglesey
· Dr Tony Calland, Chairman, BMA Medical Ethics committee.
· Sir Ian Carruthers OBE, Chief Executive, NHS South of England.
· Dr Jo Farrar, Chief Executive, Bridgend County Borough Council
· Lt General Louis Lillywhite CB, MBE, QHP, former Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces
· Professor Marcus Longley, Director, Welsh Institute for Health and Social Care, University of Glamorgan.
· Professor Ewan Macdonald OBE, University of Glasgow
· Professor Donna Mead, Professor of Nursing and Head of the School of Care Sciences, University of Glamorgan.
· Professor Sir Anthony Newman Taylor CBE, Principal, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College.
· Professor Ceri Phillips, Professor of Health Economics and Head of Research, College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University.
· Professor Allyson Pollock, Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary, University of London.
The meeting was also attended by David Sissling, Director General, Health and Social Services and Chief Executive, NHS Wales and and received a presentation from Dr Judith Greenacre, Director of Health Intelligence, Public Health Wales. The Minister for Health and Social Services gave her apologies for being unable to attend due to a long-standing commitment and was represented by her Special Advisor Jonathan Davies, who attended for only part of the meeting.
2 A Sacred Flame: The Glyncorrwg project 1961 – 1992 and reflections on NHS policy in Wales
Professor Sir Mansel Aylward chaired an evening seminar with Professor Julian Tudor-Hart, on Thursday 19 January. The event was jointly hosted by the newly reconstituted Bevan Commission and 1000 Lives Plus.
Professor Tudor-Hart discussed the findings in his 25-year Glyncorrwg study and the different circumstances which confront us some 30 years later.
Dr Chris Riley and Professor Marcus Longley discussed their paper on the ‘Health and Social Care 2010’, a project of the Welsh Health Planning Forum, which was designed to link the overall strategy of the NHS in Wales with the planning of local healthcare strategies. It was evident that potential solutions advocated in the early 1990s have still not been fully exploited. The possible reasons for this lack of progress were discussed.
A short paper will be produced following the seminar.
3 Review of Scientific Evidence for the Eradication of Bovine TB in Wales
The report into the review of scientific evidence for the eradication of Bovine TB in Wales has been completed.
4 Ministerial National Advisory Board
The Chair attended the Minister for Health and Social Services’ National Advisory Board. The Chair sits on this Board in his capacity as Chair of the Bevan Commission. The Board received papers on the Third Sector, Using Information Transparency to Improve Services, and the NHS Wales Quality Delivery Plan.
5 Board Away Day / board development
The Public Health Wales Board met on 19 January and 8 February as part of the Board Development Programme. These ‘Away Days’ provided a forum for detailed discussion and strategic thinking. The outcome of the discussions at these ‘Away Days’ will be discussed at a further ‘Away Day’ in March or April.
6 Honorary Professor, University of Auckland and Ko Awatea Stevenson Chair
The Chair has been appointed Honorary Chair, Professor in South Auckland Clinical School, Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences University of Auckland and the inaugural Ko Awatea Stevenson Chair. He will visit New Zealand between February and May 2012. The Chair will spend part of his visit to New Zealand at Ko Awatea – the Centre for Health Innovation and Systems Improvement, Counties Manukau District Health Board. The Chair will work on opportunities for collaboration and learning between New Zealand, Public Health Wales, Welsh Government and Cardiff University. The visit will also incorporate collaborative working with the New Zealand Ministry of Health and other government departments.
7 Appraisal by Minister for Health and Social Services
Sir Mansel received his annual appraisal by the Minister for Health and Social Services and agreed objectives for the coming year. The Minister was very pleased with the progress that Public Health Wales has made and the influence it has demonstrated across the health landscape in Wales. She was satisfied with Sir Mansel’s role as Chair.
8 Reappointment of Non Executive Director
Professor Simon Smail has been reappointed as Independent Non Executive Director for a further 4 years.
9 Conferences and Presentations
The Chair attended and presented at the following meetings:
9.1 All Wales Mental Health Promotion Network Annual Conference
As Chair of the all Wales Mental Health Promotion Network, Sir Mansel chaired the morning session of the annual conference ‘Are the Kids Alright? The Importance of Early Years’. The afternoon session was chaired by Bob Hudson, during which the Chair gave a presentation on the Bevan Commission.
9.2 Denis D’Auria Award Ceremony
The Chair attended the Denis D’Auria Awards Ceremony on 30 January 2012. The award ceremony was in memory of Denis D'Auria, the founder of the MSc in Occupational Health (Policy and Practice). In recognition of this and Denis’ enormous contributions to the field of Occupational Medicine, a prize was been established with monies provided jointly by Cardiff University and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine, Dublin, where Denis was Academic Registrar.
The prize is awarded annually to the student submitting the best dissertation for the MSc in Occupational Health (Policy and Practice). The Chair presented on ‘the future of Occupational Medicine in Wales’.
9.3 Cochrane Colloqium
The first Cochrane Colloquium took place at the new Cochrane Building in the School of Medicine, Cardiff University. The purpose of the Colloquium was to discuss research findings relevant to health policy by bringing together senior academics and health researchers, senior colleagues in NHS Wales and Public Health Wales, senior colleagues in the Welsh Government and Assembly members. The topic of the first Colloquium was ‘Healthy Living in Wales’, which featured a presentation by Professor Peter Elwood on the Caerphilly Study. There were several other presentations. Quite an animated discussion followed about the reasons why some health improvement interventions had not made the impact expected of them. Dr Peter Bradley gave a compelling argument that the time for change had come and that the way forward should not rest solely on interventions and initiatives which had patently failed in the past. He expanded further on the thoughts he had which might address these perplexing issues.
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