Agenda item

RESOLVED: The Committee thanked the witnesses for their time, and noted the evidence given.

The Chair re-joined the meeting.

The Chair welcomed the expert witnesses to the Committee:

·         Annette Stead – Head of Sport and Active Recreation, LBL

·         Katrina McCormick – Joint Deputy Director of Public Health

·         Sara Nelson, South London Cardiac and Stroke Network

·         Lyn Wheeler, Patient Representative, South London Cardiac and Stroke Network

·         Jenny Budd – Lewisham Healthy Walks Co-ordinator, Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust

·         LucretaLaPierre – Healthy Walks Leader (volunteer)

·         Sam Kirk, Strategic Waste and Environment Manager, LBL

·         Joni Blackwood - Fitness Instructor - "Get Active" and "Check and Change" Programmes

The Chair invited Annette Stead and Katrina McCormick to give a brief introduction in to the topic of Physical Activity in Lewisham, and the role it plays in preventing premature mortality. They advised:

·         Physical activity includes all activity, from everyday walking to get from A to B, work-related activity, active recreation, gardening and active sport.

·         Duration, Intensity and Frequency are all important aspects of physical activity in relation to health

·         “Start Active, Stay Active” is the Chief Medical Officer guidance on activity levels (April 2011), with guidance for all age groups, an emphasis on daily activity and a stringer recognition of the role of vigorous intensity activity

·         In Lewisham only 10% of adults achieve the Chief Medical Officer targets of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, five times per week

·         An estimated 10,000 adults per year would need to get more active to reach the 2020 target of 70% doing 5 X 30 minutes of activity

·         It is felt that the focus should be on getting the Inactive Active – helping people move from inactivity to low or moderate activity would produce the greatest benefit

·         In Lewisham, males are more active than females, young people more active than older people, white people slightly more active than non-white people, affluent people more active than the less affluent

·         In 2010 a sports plan for the borough was produced

·         There are three levels of physical activity support on offer in Lewisham: Universal, Targeted and Specialist.

·         A large number of activities are delivered by the third sector

In response to questions, Annette Stead and Katrina McCormick advised:

·         The Lewisham plus card is a scheme to make activities available at a reduced price to people on low incomes, this scheme is currently being reviewed and some improvements to the scheme identified to increase uptake

·         Between teenage years and early twenties female physical activity tends to decrease and males also become viewers rather than participants in sporting activities

·         A years free gym membership to school leavers would have a large cost implication, swimming remains free for under 16s and over 60s

Sam Kirk was invited to tell the Committee about the Community Gardens project. The she advised the Committee that the programme started in 2009 with a target of developing 60 food growing spaces in the borough by 2012. There are currently 64 spaces in the borough. A toolkit has been developed to help [people set up a community garden, and a number are on Council owned land. The team are working closely with sheltered homes and schools to develop spaces. Forest Hill Boys school have been supported to develop a scheme where they produce food boxes for local elderly people. The team are currently looking to support the development of 6 local master gardeners to further support the development of community gardens.

Sara Nelson and Lynn Wheeler from the South London Cardiac and Stroke Network were invited to make a presentation to the Committee. The key points to note were:

·         The network connects patients, carers commissioners and other healthcare professionals to advance cardiac and stroke care from prevention through acute care to rehabilitation

·         Physical activity reduced premature death by 20-30% and reduces CVD risk by up to 50%

·         Physical activity increases good cholesterol, lowers bad cholesterol, reduces high blood pressure and reduces risk of stroke

·         Effective prevention activity includes the NHS Health check, which identifies new cases for hypertension and motivation to change sedentary and diet behaviour

·         The rehabilitation programme provides exercise in a safe environment and supports confidence in increasing physical activity

·         From a patient perspective, Lynn felt that activities at a suitable time of day for people (evening for working people daytime for older people), were important to encourage attendance -  the heart smart exercise classes enable people with similar experiences and conditions to exercise together.

·         Lynn also advised that a dedicated trainer to support nervous newcomers and make the activities welcoming and achievable was a key factor in encouraging attendance, and that the activities had to be made a social activity and fun to take part in to encourage people to want to continue to take part in physical activity

·         A wide range of activities to suit all people was also felt to be important, from aqua fit, to aerobics to support in the gym

·         Lynn also felt that subsidising the activities to make them affordable for people to take part in regularly was important in making them accessible

Joni Blackwood – an independent fitness instructor who delivers the “Get Active” and “Check and Change” Programmes was invited to tell the Committee about these programmes, and the impact they have on increasing physical activity and reducing premature mortality. The key points to note were:

·         There are a number of programmes offered across the borough, some funded by the NHS and some by Sport England, providing the flexibility to offer a variety of services in a wide range of locations, including schools and community centres.

·         There are a range of programmes, some 40 weeks long, some 10 weeks long, ranging from Pilates to Zumba, from walking to boxercise

·         “Shape Up” is an 8 week programme over a period of 8 workshops that helps clients identify the behaviours that can stop them from achieving their  health and weight loss goals, or have caused them to give up or fail in the past. The programme addresses topics like portion sizes, food labels and internal and external triggers. The aim of the programme is for clients to leave with achievable goals and realistic lifestyle choices – the majority of clients have maintained their weight loss a year after the programme

·         Three clients have provided detailed, anonymised, case studies of the positive impact the programmes have had on their lives, which were summarised and will be circulated to the Committee as background evidence

Jenny Budd and Lucreta LaPierre advised the Committee about the Healthy Walks Programme. The key points to note were:

·         The scheme has been running for nearly 10 years, and Jenny has been the part time co-ordinator for all of that time.

·         There are 12 regular walks a week across the borough,  with the main aim of the programme being to get inactive people starting to be active

·         The walks are led by local volunteers and approximately 160 people are currently regularly taking part in the programme. Between November 2010 and November 2011 there were 252 people registered with the programme who attended a total of 4906 sessions

·         There are a total of 526 walks a years, 74% of participants are women, 26 men

·         When the programme was first set up it specifically targeted the 50+ group

·         The walks cover a range of length and difficulty, and are in a range of green spaces in the borough

·         Lucreta leads the walks in Hornimans Gardens, one of which is early on a Sunday morning. Lucreta feels that the walks are an important part in developing friendships and fusing cultures, as well as getting people fitter and they become a social and community event each week as people join in and make friends and enjoy getting fit together

·         When people first attend they are asked to fill in a questionnaire so that their participation can be risk assessed

·         Jenny works in the Community Development for Health team at Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust and they are also linked with the health check programme and are developing a programme of Nordic walking for those that would like to move onto more strenuous walking

In response to questions from the Committee, the expert witnesses advised:

·         The Council currently provides grants of up to £750 to help groups setting up community garden projects

·         Katrina McCormick advised that the total physical activity programme in Lewisham needed to be looked at to analyse uptake and identify if the total offer and timings of activities were suiting the populations needs as best as possible

·         Lynn Wheeler advised that a routine health check identifying high blood pressure would have encouraged her to take up physical activity earlier- rather than this going undetected until she had an acute medical problem

·         When some one contacts their GP, their level of physical activity should be discussed and they should be encouraged to be active to improve their general  health- the GP Quality Outcome Framework may help in making this happen as standard

·         The Health Check programme for 45-70 year olds is currently being rolled out and promoted across the borough, 5000 people have been seen since the programme started

·         Encouraging people to be more active in daily life, such as walking to places, using the stairs, rather than just focusing on exercise classes can help more people see how to get more active in easier every day ways

RESOLVED: The Committee thanked the witnesses for their time, and noted the evidence given.