To improve the health and well-being, and to reduce health inequalities, of individuals and communities throughout Angus.

• Introduction to the Health Improvement and Community Safety Group

• 2003/04 Progress and achievements
• The Angus Community Plan Progress Report and Review 2003/04

• Partnership documents

Introduction to the Health Improvement and Community Safety Group

The main aim of this partnership group, which was established in 2002 as part of a realigning of joint working arrangements in health, caring, and community safety, is ‘to improve the health and well-being, and to reduce health inequalities, of individuals and communities throughout Angus’. It highlights the importance of the role that community safety plays in promoting health and well-being.

National documents that inform the work of the group include ‘Our National Health; A plan for action a plan for change’ and ‘Threads of Success’ (community safety).

A Community Safety Strategy was developed in 1998 and reviewed in 2001. Both were approved by the Scottish Executive. A Community Safety Action Plan is now reviewed each year, with reviews undertaken in 2002 and 2003. This group is overseeing the development of the Joint Health Improvement Plan for Angus, to deliver a greater sense of well being and reduce health inequalities for the Angus community. It is planned to produce a final Joint Health Improvement Plan by mid August 2003.

The group’s role and remit was established as:-

• to develop a joint strategy/plan for the promotion of the above aim, taking cognisance of national drivers for change from a community safety and public health/health improvement perspective

• to jointly agree an action plan/action plans with SMART objectives, for the implementation of the agreed joint strategy/plan

• to develop systems for monitoring the implementation of the agreed objectives

• to identify methods for evaluation of the outcomes of the joint strategy/plan

• to ensure that the evaluation of the outcomes informs future joint planning

• to further develop criteria for undertaking an annual review of joint partnership arrangements which reflects the objectives set out in Audit Scotland’s ‘Threads of Success’

• to manage the resources available to the group, eg the Community Safety & Development Fund for Angus, the Angus Health Improvement Fund incorporating the Angus Health for All budget and any other relevant funds which might emerge in the future.

It is the intention of the Health Improvement and Community Safety Group to align the Community Safety Action Plan with the Joint Health Improvement Plan.

2003/04 Progress and achievements

There have been some important activities progressed over the year under the banner of the Healthy, Safe & Caring Communities Partnership. These include the development of a Local Housing Strategy which is detailed in section 4 of this Progress Report & Review. The Tayside Health Inequalities Strategy has also been developed over the year linking to the priorities established in the Joint Health Improvement Plan for Angus. Also, a Community Care Plan for 2003-2006 has been developed and agreed, as has a Carers Strategy for Angus has been circulated for consultation.

Some groundbreaking research into health improvement has been taken forward with the Public Health Institute for Scotland and the Angus Community Planning Partnership. The final report of this work has now been published entitled "Health Improvement and Community Planning in Angus". The research establishes a model entitled ‘To Change’, which is designed to deliver health improvement activity within the community planning context in Angus. It has been intimated that a national event will be held to ensure the outcomes from this work will be shared across the whole of Scotland, as it has focused on the important developments in the health improvement field of activity.

The following represents a summary of achievements and plans for each of the four sub partnership groups.

2003 Achievements

• Angus Joint Health Improvement Team: We have established a joint agency Health Improvement Team as part of the Joint Strategic Support Unit to the Health Safe and Caring Communities Partnership. The team will support a co-ordinated approach to health improvement planning and implementation.
• Safe Taysiders: Safe Taysiders 2003 has once again been a great success, with over 500 children from all over Angus benefiting from safety advice and practical exercises in a number of different areas. Agencies who contributed to the success of Safe Taysiders 2003 include Tayside Police, Angus Council, Scottish Ambulance Service, HM Coastguard, Angus Council Ranger Service, NHS Tayside, The Web Project, Scottish and Southern Energy and Tayside Fire Brigade.
• Home Safety Risk Assessment Training: Following a successful pilot in April 2002, funding was secured from the Quality of Life Fund to carry out training for staff from a number of agencies, including Social Work, Housing, Tayside Police, NHS Tayside and Angus Care and Repair. The Royal Society of the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) was commissioned to deliver a series of training throughout Angus from November 2002 until February 2003, which was extremely well received by staff from all agencies.
• Fuel Poverty: In order to decrease the number of Angus households subjected to the effects of fuel poverty, Angus Council (Housing) and Angus LHCC (Public Health) have delivered locality-based fuel poverty and health awareness raising sessions for key frontline staff. The aim is to enable professionals to identify householders vulnerable to fuel poverty and refer the client to sources of free and independent help and advice.
• Community Nutrition: The Health Improvement Fund has enabled a Nutritionist to work in partnership with NHS staff, Local Authority personnel and Voluntary Agencies to develop, implement, and evaluate community nutrition projects in Arbroath that are based on the needs of vulnerable groups. The nutritionist has been able to demonstrate an increase in the nutritional knowledge, awareness and skills of the participants in the project.
• No.1 for Youth and Dialogue Youth: One of the key elements of a model of accessible and integrated health services for young people based in all the natural communities in Angus. Cool 2 Talk, the interactive health website for young people, is located and can be accessed through the Dialogue Youth premises in Forfar.
• Smoking Cessation: In April 2003, NHS Tayside decided to make permanent the funding for specific smoking cessation work in the Tayside area - an Arbuthnott Formula quarter share of the £50,000 total. This is being used to continue the Tayside Smoking Helpline Service, and the related Administrator’s post, to fund sessional hours for staff running groups and one-to-one support for smokers and to provide training on smoking cessation for professional and workplace staff in the locality.
• Smoking in Public Places: A partnership group involving Angus Council department representatives (Legal, Environmental Health and Consumer Protection, Social Work, Education) and lead officers from Angus LHCC and NHS Tayside’s Public Health Directorate met four times during 2003/04 to engage in discussion and plan action on smoking and tobacco control issues. The group helped facilitate the move towards a smoking ban at the Abbeygate Shopping Centre in Arbroath and conducted a major survey of smoking in licensed premises followed up by a seminar for licensees.
• Exercise Referral: The HIF-funded exercise referral programme commenced its roll-out in March 2003 when the first patients were admitted to the scheme. The programme is available in all the Angus Burghs, and involves a referral by a member of the Primary Care staff to the local Leisure Centre for a 12 session programme of graded physical activity. Around 70 patients have benefited from the scheme so far; early evidence points to high levels of adherence to the programme, update of exercise opportunities thereafter and a number of positive health benefits for participants.
• Child and Family Centre Support Team workshops on breastfeeding commenced in October 2003 and will be completed by February 2004 in Angus. The workshops were developed as part of a Tayside-wide consultation on the educational needs of centre/team workers. The workshops have been facilitated by Janet Dalzell, Breastfeeding Co-ordinator, and Sure Start Health Visitors in Angus. The overall aim is to provide information, explore cultural and societal barriers to breastfeeding and provide support for staff to promote breastfeeding in the local community and families they work with.
• SHAW: In October 2003, a pilot presentation on breastfeeding with Angus Local Authority, in partnership with the SHAW Scheme, took place in three venues in Angus. This was to raise awareness about cultural barriers to breastfeeding, breastfeeding and return to work – employer and employee rights and responsibilities. Attendance however was poor but for those who did attend the evaluation was extremely positive. Angus Council is currently developing a breastfeeding and return to work policy. The initiative continues to be rolled out in Angus. Many Angus Council departments are now working towards gold and silver awards. Good progress is also being made by other private and public sector bodies towards bronze award status.
• Work with Schools: A number of specific initiatives have been progressed in some schools in Angus, including a health drama project, contraception, testicular examination and breast awareness workshops, a drop-in clinic at Arbroath Academy and "How we Feel" workshops and publicity materials.
• Safe as Houses: This initiative has helped to reduce crimes of Housebreaking by almost 50% in Angus. The yearly target set for referrals for 2003/2004 was completed within the first 9 months of this financial year.
• Safe Angus for Everyone: Continues to grow from strength to strength and saw over 200 young people engaged in diversionary activities provided through this initiative. Additional funding was allocated by the Scottish Executive for summer activities, which allowed more facilities to be provided for young people during the school holidays.
• Driving Ambition Angus: This was launched in partnership between Tayside Police, the Driving Standards Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency to reduce the number of road accidents involving young drivers by providing valuable information and advice through practical application to 6^th year pupils in Angus. 7 out of 8 secondary schools were able to participate with all 8 signing up for 2004/2005 and 420 pupils attended.
• Tayside Safety Camera Partnership: This partnership includes Tayside Police and Angus Council (together with Perth and Kinross Council, Dundee City Council, and the Scottish Executive). Fixed and mobile cameras are being used to detect speeding at locations with bad accident records and excessive vehicle speeds. The scheme was launched in July 2003 and similar schemes in other parts of the UK have proved effective in reducing the number and severity of road traffic accidents.

The Angus Community Plan Progress Report and Review 2003/04

The Angus Community Plan Progress Report and Review 2003/04 details partnership priorities for the coming 12 months and beyond.  Against each of these priorities, activities have been identified with timescales, partners involved and the intended outcome - allowing you to see what is planned to deliver on your priorities. 

For more information download the Health Improvement and Community Safety Group section (PDF 55K) of the Angus Community Plan Progress Report and Review 2003/04