Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive Public Health England Visits Blackburn with Darwen

On 16 September, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council welcomed Duncan Selbie the Chief Executive of Public Health England. The visit was a part of a series of weekly meetings that Mr Selbie holds in different areas all across England that allow him to sit down with local government, NHS and, where possible, the Volunteer, Community, Faith and Social Sectors to discuss their work and share learning.

Mr Selbie was keen to learn more about the work that Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (BwD) has been doing as part of the Pennine Lancashire Integrated Care Partnership (ICP). In his national blog he noted that BwD has been, “an outstanding example of modern local government underpinned by an unwavering commitment to their communities and outcomes.”

During his time in BwD, Mr Selbie and partnership leaders discussed the work of the Integrated Care Partnership and the commitments being made to address health improvement across Pennine Lancashire through prevention and better access to local health and care services. In conversations following the discussion Mr Selbie noted that he was very impressed by the strategy that all local partners are aligning to and happy with the way they are planning on directing and allocating resources.

The visit was big step in the positive direction that the Pennine Lancashire Integrated Care Partnership is taking in the next stages of integrated care and demonstrates the hard work, support and dedication being made across the Pennine Lancashire footprint. As Mr Selbie explained, “They [the ICP] face a challenging health profile but are relentlessly improving on this regardless of their economic and financial challenges.”