Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet, have today endorsed a report to make every contact count when managing long term health conditions in Warwickshire.

The Annual Report, the Picture of Ill Health in Warwickshire, was presented by the Director of Public Health, Dr John Linnane at a County Council Cabinet meeting. The main aim of the report was to highlight concerns over the impact of long term health conditions across the County, with key findings within the report noting that one in three Warwickshire residents are currently living with a chronic health condition and that number is set to rise.

Dr Linnane said: “Long term conditions are increasing, partly because of our aging population and partly because of unhealthy lifestyle choices.  In Warwickshire 147,000 adults live with at least one long term condition. People can live with these conditions for many years, but that can have an enormous impact on their quality of life.

“To help reduce long term conditions, we are encouraging the public and voluntary sector to engage in promoting healthy living by making every contact count. This can be achieved by ensuring all opportunities are taken to signpost the public to health by promoting key advice and support. We also need to increase the availability of services to help with mental health and wellbeing and improve the coordination of services being delivered to people with more than one long tern health condition”

In addition to focusing on ill health, the report also highlights what has been done to improve public health across Warwickshire within the last year.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Public Health, Councillor Bob Stevens said:

“The report presented by Dr John Linnane has given us a clear insight into how we can work together to support those living with long term health issues. The main focus of which is to influence the wider causes of health with a key focus on the health impact assessment process.

“It was recognised however, that this can only be achieved if all agencies dealing with health including district and boroughs, clinical commissioning groups and our NHS colleagues are working together with common aims of improving the health and wellbeing of the residents of Warwickshire.”

For full details on the report can be found on-line at Public Health Warwickshire.