Our Sixth Form Health & Social Care students were recently visited by Katie Dunston-Smith of the County Durham Public Health Intelligence Team for a session on community health provision.

Students learned about how health data is used to decide which health services are required in County Durham and where they should be placed to be accessible to those who need it most.

Katie provided current data on provision relating to smoking, breast feeding and obesity; she also showed the class a really interesting visual "bus route' of the county which displayed how the health of our local population varies from area to area.

This was extremely useful for their current coursework and students found it particuarly interesting to consider why the "healthy life expectancy' in Middleton-in-Teesdale should be so much greater than some areas around Bishop Auckland. We would like to thank Katie for her time.