6 April (Part 2) - The catch up begins
Bexley Council inconsiderately held five meetings while I was hospitalized
and my reporting of them is now six meetings behind the times. I have listened to
five of them, one was not webcast, and time constraints demand that only the
briefest of commentary can be provided. Just the highlights if there were any.
Here we go with the Adult’s Services Scrutiny Committee meeting from 18th March. It was mainly about health issues.
• North Bexley suffers ‘Health Inequalitiesְ’ and lower than average cancer screening, 60% lower in the case of breast screening.
• Screening services include breast, cervical and bowel plus aortic aneurismsְ’.
• The poorest people have the lowest uptake and black people are particularly poor. Breast and Prostate
cancers got a special mention. Both are most
common; in women and men obviously.
• Black and Asian people suffer higher blood pressure - which is not unusual.
• Community volunteers, 562 of them, have been recruited to spread the word about screening programmes. People usually respond
positively to specific screening invitations.
• Neck cancer in men is becoming a problem and the recruitment of barbers to keep an eye on things is being considered. Greenwich already does it.
• Nail bars will be recruited for the ladies, specifically targeting mental health.
• Food banks will advocate healthy eating via recipe cards.
• Under 25s and Eastern Europeans are proving
difficult to contact. They only seem to be interested in Social Media where messages are too easily skipped through.
• About 50% of GP appointments in Bexley overall are delivered Face to Face.
An entirely different aside from a Council Officer asked that care staff be
given a free pass to park where they like.
I
thought they had one already called Kevin Taylor.
