Chief Medical Officer visits borough to hear about public health challenges

Professor Chris Whitty praised the strength of local partnerships and their positive contribution to health and wellbeing during a recent visit to Blackburn with Darwen.

England’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), who has been a prominent senior medical adviser to the Government during the Covid pandemic, visited the borough last month.

During the visit, Professor Whitty met with the Blackburn with Darwen Council Chief Executive, directors and the public health team to hear about the borough’s public health challenges and the Council’s health and wellbeing priorities.

Through discussions around the health impact of deprivation, the rising cost of living, housing, education, physical activity, economic growth and employment opportunities, the teams gave Professor Whitty an overview of the Council’s plans to improve residents’ health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.

Council officers also took the opportunity to offer their reflections on the Covid pandemic and important lessons learned.

Professor Whitty commented:

It was a very interesting visit to Blackburn with Darwen to learn about the health challenges the local authority is facing and to listen to the public health team’s ideas for how national policy can support them. Blackburn with Darwen has shown incredible resilience throughout the pandemic and I was very impressed by the local public health team.

Abdul Razaq, Director of Public Health for Blackburn with Darwen, said:

The CMO was highly impressed by our commitment to improving the local population’s health and wellbeing, and our collaboration across multiple sectors and partnerships.

Professor Whitty also visited Blackburn Youth Zone to meet representatives of around a dozen organisations from the borough’s voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS). Talking to each organisation, the CMO was able to get a sense of the strong partnerships that exist within the sector in Blackburn with Darwen.

Martin Winters, Senior Business Support Manager at Blackburn Rovers Community Trust, was among the VCFS group who met with Professor Whitty. He commented:

We are all parts of the jigsaw here in Blackburn with Darwen. As one of the Council’s public health partners, I hope we managed to highlight to the CMO how various organisations come together with a collective goal.

Abdul Kheratkar, who represented the Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum and the Lancashire Council of Mosques at the session, added:

It was a good opportunity for the CMO to hear about what goes on in our local communities.

Denise Park, the Council’s Chief Executive, said:

We were delighted to welcome Professor Whitty to Blackburn with Darwen and took the opportunity to show him that the borough has a wealth of engaged organisations and a real willingness to collaborate and innovate to address our public health challenges.