The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Chief Medical Adviser to the government, Sir Chris Whitty, has visited Devon as part of a tour of the country’s rural towns and communities.
His fact-finding mission is looking at the health challenges for people in small towns and rural areas, for an annual report he will publish for government later this year.
On his visit, he met senior officers and councillors from Devon County Council’s Public Health Devon team, as well as representatives from Trading Standards and the council’s Communities and Active Devon teams, at County Hall, Exeter.
Sir Chris wants to understand what the challenges are in respect of good health for people in small towns, and what local authorities, the NHS, and community partners are doing to improve it.
The availability of good quality affordable housing and the issue of homelessness were among the topics highlighted by the council as a challenge in Devon.
Sir Chris was told about the challenges around rural deprivation, food insecurity, and fuel poverty.
He heard about the health inequalities for people living in urban and rural Devon, the challenge of rural deprivation and exclusion, particularly in relation to access to services.
He was told about findings from a recent Devon Youth Council survey, where young people highlighted the barriers that they experience living in rural communities – a need for better local public transport, and more reliable access to broadband for example. And of the work that young people and the council are doing to improve the range of things and activities that young people can access.
He also heard about the challenges that young people in rural areas have accessing education, training, and employment opportunities.
Devon’s aging population was also highlighted as a challenge, with health and adult social care services supporting one of the highest percentages of older people in the country.
Sir Chris was later taken on his visit to Buckfastleigh, a rural town that ranks high on the rural deprivation index.
There he met the local councillors, the Mayor, GP and heard from Pam Barrett, of ‘Better Places’, a community interest company set up to tackle health, social, and economic inequalities in Buckfastleigh and other small rural towns in Devon. He also took the opportunity to walk around the town visiting the library, the lido and park.
The Director for Public Health Devon, Steve Brown, said:
“In Devon, our records show that some people are dying up to 15-years earlier than they should because essential building blocks of health – things like reliable transport, access to education and training, decent digital connectivity, and services that people can reach – are missing.“When it comes to the building blocks we all need for good health we know that living in rural areas can wear away at every block, and young people have told us how living in rural areas can limit their access to learning and work.
“Public Health Devon are committed to better understand these rural challenges and work with communities and other partners to strengthen these building blocks for healthy rural communities.”
Councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin, Cabinet Member with responsibility for rural affairs and broadband, said:
“Rural communities face challenges that urban areas simply don’t.
“Delivering services across a large rural county like Devon brings significant challenges. Distances are greater, access to public transport is limited, digital connectivity can be patchy, and opportunities to access services, education, training, and employment are often much harder to reach than in urban areas.
“For many people in our rural towns and villages, services and opportunities that others may take for granted have become harder to access, particularly as local provision has been lost from many communities over recent decades.
“All of this has a direct impact on the physical and mental health of people living in rural Devon.
“There needs to be far greater recognition of the challenges facing rural communities, and I very much hope the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report will shine a much-needed spotlight on the realities of rural life in Devon.
“We know deprivation in rural areas is often hidden, and that national data can mask the true extent of poverty, exclusion and poor access to services in rural communities.
“That is why I am pleased we are working closely with partner organisations and local communities to develop a clear action plan to improve living standards, strengthen access to services and ensure rural Devon is not left behind.”
Professor Chris Whitty said:
“I was delighted to visit the Devon County Council public health team and for the opportunity to see the excellent work they are delivering, together with partners, to improve the health of people in Devon.
“Improving population health across geographically dispersed rural and coastal communities is difficult, with challenges for many residents accessing physical or digital services.
“Despite these challenges, the local team is doing fantastic work to support the health of their communities.”
Pam Barrett, Better Places, said:
“I’m really pleased that Sir Chris is focussing the health issues facing people living in rural areas.
“People living in Buckfastleigh and other similar rural towns are too often overlooked because their needs are hidden in data analysed at regional and national level.“There is a lot of wealth in rural counties and this masks pockets of nested rural deprivation often found in ex-industrialised towns like Buckfastleigh.
“Austerity has led many public sector organisations to centralise services in larger towns and cities sometimes leaving rural communities without access to even essential services.“At Better Places we have been working to plug some of those gaps across a cluster of small south Devon towns and by championing the needs of our rural communities to regional and national policy makers.
“We welcome the work that Devon County Council is doing to address this issue and look forward to working with them on a new model for rural service delivery.”