Nottingham reveals figure to lead the city’s fight against Covid

Nottingham has a new director of public health, Lucy Hubber, who has this week taken up her role of leading the city’s ongoing response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hubber joins the City Council after being director of public health at Luton Borough Council.

As well as the immediate and continuing effort to tackle Covid-19, Lubber’s key focus will be on reducing health inequalities in Nottingham.

She said: “I am excited about joining Nottingham City Council as the Director of Public Health – particularly at a time when the collective response to Covid-19 continues to be a priority for our city.

“I am passionate about getting things right for our citizens – the pandemic has shown how important it is to work closely with our communities and to support them. As we move from Covid to ‘business-as-usual’, it is vital that we maintain that engagement so that we can continue to look for shared solutions.

“The pandemic has shown the huge inequalities that exist in our city, not just in health but also in people’s ability to access services. This will be a significant priority for the Public Health team going forward. Our focus must be not just on meeting our city’s health needs, but also ensuring they have access to other services – education, housing, work – that are fundamental to their health and wellbeing.”

Councillor David Mellen, leader of Nottingham City Council, said: “I would like to welcome Lucy in her new role as Director of Public Health. This continues to be a challenging time for our city; while we are moving towards the end of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, it is clear that there is still much work on Covid-19 that remains – whether this is supporting the NHS with vaccinations or finding ways to adapt to the virus in our communities, through regular testing or continuing to follow guidance around ‘hands/face/space’.

“Her response to the wider agenda around heath inequalities will be incredibly important for everyone in Nottingham. I share her commitment to working closely with our citizens to ensure a ‘whole-council’ approach to improving health and wellbeing in all aspects of our lives.”

Lubber replaces Alison Challenger, who joined West Sussex County Council in April. The post was covered in the interim by David Johns.