Lewisham Council is set to embed a Health in All Policies
(HiAP) approach across its services, aiming to integrate health considerations into decision-making across all council directorates. This initiative, discussed at a recent Health and Wellbeing Board meeting, seeks to proactively address the social determinants of health and improve resident well-being.
The HiAP approach will see health considerations become a core part of policy development, starting with a focus on housing. A workshop involving senior housing and public health officials has already taken place to identify key areas for collaboration, including governance, data analysis, and support for families in temporary accommodation. The council is also working to build a shared understanding of the data housing holds, with mapping of housing datasets, collection tools, and pathways underway to identify needs.
This strategic shift is part of Lewisham's wider Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025-2030, which prioritises prevention and tackling issues such as poverty and housing insecurity. The strategy explicitly aims to tackle health inequalities across Lewisham's diverse communities, with metrics designed with an equalities, diversity, and inclusion lens to monitor outcomes for different groups. The first year of action has seen progress in establishing a damp and mould pathway, informed by best practices and Awaab's Law requirements. Public health officials will now attend housing repairs meetings to further inform this work.
Further initiatives under the HiAP umbrella include efforts to improve data integration between health and housing services to better identify residents with health needs. The council is also exploring ways to enhance health check uptake and prepare for extreme weather events, with public health offering training to housing staff.
Dr Catherine Mbema, Director of Public Health, highlighted the importance of embedding a research culture across the council to support data integration and the HiAP agenda. The council is also investigating the potential for a unique resident identifier to improve data sharing and service delivery across departments.
Embedding HiAP across diverse services presents challenges, including capacity constraints impacting progress in other directorates and ensuring a joint understanding of roles and responsibilities between public health and housing. To address these, the council is recruiting a dedicated HiAP policy officer and utilising workshops and training to advance the agenda. The council was also successful in securing external consultant facilitation for its HiAP approach, with several areas for future work identified, including governance, evidence and needs analysis, support for families in temporary accommodation, and further training.
The Housing and Health priority within the strategy seeks to address Awaab's Law requirements concerning health and hazards, such as extreme heat and cold, which are significant social determinants of health. Engagement with seldom heard groups
is also a focus, indicating a broader commitment to understanding the diverse needs of Lewisham's population.
Further details on the Health and Wellbeing Board's discussions can be found in the Public reports pack and the Agenda frontsheet.
