BURY is bidding to bring extra cash back to the borough as it attempts to establish a high-profile Health Action Zone.

Partners Bury and Rochdale Health Authority, together with Bury and Rochdale Councils, have been accepted among just 32 schemes being considered for additional multi-million pound funding from the Department of Health.

Now, following major consultation with community and voluntary groups, a bid is set to be submitted at the end of this month.

The Bury and Rochdale Health Action Zone (HAZ) will then have to wait until the autumn to discover if it is one of 15 selected nationwide to develop its submission.

Bury Council's lead officer in the HAZ bid, Mr Sandy Paterson, said: "Health Action Zones are intended to target health inequalities by bringing together all those contributing to the health of the population.

"The aim is to develop and implement a locally agreed strategy for improving the health of local people. As part of our bid, we have identified four specific target areas."

These are children aged under 15, young people aged 16-24, older people aged over 65, and ethnic minorities.

Mr Paterson went on: "Strong reasons exist for focusing action upon people within these groups and that is likely to be the basis for our proposals."

Nationally, some £30 million has been set aside for what will be the second wave of Health Action Zones and each scheme will run for seven years.

The health authority's director of public health, Dr Kevin Snee, said: "We have been encouraging joint working between health and social agencies for some time in tackling health issues.

"The Health Action Zone will promote a wider perspective that acknowledges that health improvements lies beyond the scope of the NHS alone."

He continued: "Alongside the work of the Health Action Zone will be a specific health improvement programme for Bury and Rochdale. It will be drawn up with the help of local care practitioners to tackle key areas like diabetes, asthma and oral health." Bury Council leader Councillor Derek Boden said: "Increasingly, there is a need to work in partnership with others to tackle a range of issues.

"We believe we have established strong links with the health authority and our colleagues in Rochdale which we are confident will allow our joint scheme to be an extremely successful one."

He added: "Currently, consultations are taking place locally to fine-tune our bid. Once that is done we will make our submission.

"We believe there is a real need for HAZ status and we are optimistic about our chances of being one of the successful schemes chosen."

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