2023 reflections

Below is an update based on recommendations outlined in the 2022 PHAR report. The Health is 2040 report also considers this work. Work in these areas will continue to progress because of these further consideration and new recommendations. 

• In the summer of 2022, there was a Healthy Cities Network Review. Followed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Healthy Cities Annual Business and Technical Conference in Copenhagen in November 2022. ​Liverpool City Council hosted a UK Healthy Cities Network development workshop in February 2023. The workshop included representatives from Belfast, Bolton, Carlisle, Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle.
• Special recognition of the 2022 Public Health Annual Report. ​
• Public Health hosted the PHAR Launch event in March 2023. City-wide health and wellbeing organisations, charities and partners attended. They could answer questions, provide demonstrations, make referrals to services. They showcased the support on offer for local people.
• We continue to respond to high rates of death from suicide in Liverpool. We continue to build on the success of the Reach Out campaign in 2021. In 2023 we relaunched the campaign across key partners and networks. The campaign featured in local press with a new message of “Hope Beyond Crisis.”
• Liverpool hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2023. The city’s Director of Public Health led the Evaluation Steering Group. Liverpool’s legacy in research and event management bolstered planning for Eurovision 2023. Liverpool had built a wealth of tools ready to evaluate every stage of the event. Learning from the research around the return of larger events following Covid-19 was crucial. Also, The Civic Data cooperative was key in developing robust evaluation processes. Public Health could prioritise well-being and safety. They did this while building the evidence base for the importance of big events in the city. All this work will inform large-scale event planning in the future. Public Health worked to engage event goers in conversations and interventions. These included: Promoting positive mental health, promoting good sexual health, and raising awareness of cardiovascular disease.​
• In July 2023, more than 1,800 illegal vapes with a street value of £22,000 were seized. The operation involved Liverpool City Council’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit, Merseyside Police and Public Health Liverpool. This was part of a crackdown on the sale of counterfeit vaping products in Liverpool.​
• A brand-new approach to supporting families in Liverpool was launched in the summer of 2023. The first of five Family Hub networks opened. Clubmoor and Ellergreen Children’s Centre will be supported by surrounding children’s centres. They will provide services to families across Liverpool. The offer will extend from pregnancy to age 19 (or up to 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). It means that a family will only have to explain what they need help with once. Professionals will work together more effectively to achieve positive outcomes. The aim is to make services easier to navigate and more joined-up. It will ensure families receive the right service at the right tim​e.
• The first Fairer and Healthier Liverpool Priority Summit took place on Wednesday 13th September 2023. The Summit took place in Liverpool Town Hall. It included an opening address from the High Sheriff of Merseyside Dr Ruth Hussey. Councillor Jane Corbett chaired the meeting. The focus of this Summit was to improve health through housing. There was a focus on tackling furniture poverty and tackling cold and damp homes. The event was supported by Claire Donovan, from End Furniture Poverty. Heather Jessop, from Citizens Advice Liverpool. Cheryl Pritchard, from Healthy Homes. Simon Mansfield, from Sustainability and Zulfiqar Mulak and Louise Harford, from Housing. The Summit was well attended. 65 attendees supported, across the public, private and voluntary sector. The event had representatives from several registered providers in Liverpool.​
• September 2023 saw the return of the highly impactful ‘Save Kids from Sugar’ campaign. A Public Health Liverpool initiative. The Save Kids from Sugar website features a tool, enabling parents to see how much sugar is in the breakfast cereals, drinks, and snacks that their children consume.​
• Liverpool City Council is getting behind September’s ‘Know Your Numbers!’ – the blood pressure awareness-raising campaign. Liverpool City Council partnered with hospitals, employers, and community organisations. They offered free blood pressure checks to staff and residents in venues across the city. Staff were on hand to offer information on how to lower blood pressure and keep it low. The campaign was able to offer further information and signposting on related health messages.
• The River of Light ran from Friday 27 October until Sunday 5 November 2023. The event included two quiet hour sessions. Enabling those with additional sensory needs to explore installations during less crowded times. Each artwork ran with either no soundscape or at a very low volume. Where possible, lighting was altered making it a gentler, more accessible environment.​
• Liverpool’s Good Food Plan partnership has been awarded the prestigious Sustainable Food Places award. The Good Food Plan was launched in October 2021, led by Feeding Liverpool and Liverpool City Council. It has a driving vision of “Good Food for All”. The plan is further supported by partners across the public, private and voluntary sector. The bronze award recognises the plan’s work to promote healthy, sustainable, and local food. The plan is taking on some of today’s greatest social challenges. These include food poverty and diet-related ill-health, the climate emergency, and the loss of independent food retailers. The Sustainable Food Places awards panel highlighted Liverpool’s exemplary work. The panel noted our approach in dealing with food poverty and diet-related ill-health. They recognised commitment to increasing access to affordable healthy food. They also praised the city’s progress towards building a good food movement. This involves diverse communities and people with lived experience of poverty.​
• Liverpool City Council’s public health team has secured £5 million of national funding. This will allow the delivery a data-led approach to tackling inequalities. The money is from the Department of Health and Social Care. Via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The funds will be used to create a Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC).​
• A new approach to improving access to sexual and reproductive health services in Liverpool has been launched. Liverpool’s sexual health services for people of all ages and needs are now more joined-up than ever before. This follows a process of partner workshops and resident engagement. Service users will see improvements in testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and contraception. At the heart of the strategy, is a focus on reducing the inequalities in sexual and reproductive health. The strategy will be in place from 2024-2030.
• Public Health contributed to the development of Liverpool City Council’s Neighbourhood Model. The new model will see the whole Council begin to become more embedded in our communities. We will work together to transform the way we deliver frontline services for our residents. ​
• In 2023, the Public Health team developed the State of Health in Liverpool 2040 report. The report uses the latest data and research to paint a picture of health in the city. The report describes how health in the city has evolved since 1984. It highlights the current state of health in 2023. For the first time a projection of health and wellbeing in the city in 2040 based on current trends. As well as this, the report outlines the work the council, its partners and the government need to do to tackle the challenges it is projecting by 2040.​

• Liverpool Public Health​
• The Health 2040 Report​​
• One Liverpool Strategy (PDF 2.2MB) ​
• Liverpool Cultural Strategy​
• The Live Well Directory​ ​

• Action on Addiction ​
• Adient Seating UK Ltd
• Alder Hey Children’s Hospital ​
• All our colleagues at Liverpool City Council ​
• Amey Ltd
• Asylum Link
• Axess Sexual Health (LUHFT) ​
• Beacon Counselling Trust
• BHA for Equality ​
• Cancer Research UK
• Central Liverpool Primary Care Network
• Cheshire and Merseyside Public Health Network
• Cheshire and Merseyside Health Partnership (CHAMPs) ​
• Cheshire and Merseyside Place Integrated Care Board
• Chinese Wellbeing
• Citizens Advice Liverpool ​
• Cobalt Housing Ltd
• Cultural Arts Investment Programme (CAIP)
• Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
• Dr Ruth Hussey
• End Furniture Poverty
• Everton in the Community ​
• Feeding Liverpool
• GambleAware
• George House Trust ​
• Granby Toxteth Development Trust
• H.E.Simm Group
• Health Equities Group
• Health@Work
• IiCON​
• Irish Community Care
• Kind to Your Mind Liverpool
• LCVS / Healthwatch ​
• LGBT Foundation ​
• Lived Experience Network ​

• Liverpool Access to Advice Network
• Liverpool Arabic Centre
• Liverpool CAMHS
• Liverpool City Council Occupational Health
• Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
• Liverpool Community Champions ​
• Liverpool FC Foundation ​
• Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital
• Liverpool John Moore’s University (LJMU) ​
• Liverpool Local Medical Committee ​
• Liverpool Pharmaceutical Committee
• Liverpool Primary Care Networks:
  • Aintree
  • Anfield & Everton
  • Central Liverpool
  • Childwall & Wavertree
  • iGPC
  • North Liverpool
  • Liverpool First
  • SWAGGA
  • The Picton Network
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Liverpool Schools ​
• Liverpool University Hospitals
• Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust
• Marketing Liverpool ​
• ManWell C.I.C.
• Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust ​
• Mersey County Football Association ​
• Merseyside Fire & Rescue
• Merseyside Police
• Merseyside Polonia
• Merseyside Refugee Support
• Merseyside Refugee Support Network
• Merseyside Somali Community Association