As an active steering group member of Healthy Christchurch, a collaborative network, Partnership Health has taken a strong stance on ways to minimise the misuse of alcohol and the harm that alcohol does in our city.

Healthy Christchurch put together a strong submission to the Law Commission's review of alcohol legislation. Along with other members of Healthy Christchurch, we appeared before the Select Committee and attended meetings with the Minister for Justice, advocating for changes to the licensing of premises, the drinking age, the cost of alcohol and the size of the standard drink.

At the same time, we've supported leaders of the general practice community and others to put together guidelines for quick assessments of alcohol consumption by patients. These guidelines are now available on the Health Pathways website. The PHO Clinical Governance Group is considering proposals for education of general practice teams to deal with people presenting with alcohol issues.We have also contributed to the compilation of the City Health Profile. This looks at what people say they want the city to be like in the future, through a consultative process with a range of communities with whom we are actively involved. The profile talks specifically about areas in society that have an impact on our health, including urban design, transport, water purity, acc

It was interesting - and heartening - that these areas also emerged as common themes for what people want in the new Christchurch city in the ‘Share an Idea' public consultation project following the earthquakes.

The City Health Profile will undoubtedly prove a really useful document in planning the rebuild of Christchurch.