One of the three primary responsibilities of the Department of Health’s Regional Public Health Groups is to build expertise and provide leadership across the public health workforce (the other two responsibilities are to improve population health and well-being and protect the health of population). As the health of population is determined not just by lifestyle factors and access to NHS services, but also by employment, education, housing, the environment and a range of other factors, so an important mechanism for improving health is working with partners responsible for these areas. In addition to the public health teams working in the NHS, the wider public health workforce includes those working in Local Authorities, the voluntary and community sector and elsewhere to increase employment, improve housing conditions, tackle environmental threats to public health such as flooding, and so on.
The South East England Health Strategy – which was developed by the Public Health Group works in partnership with South Central and South East Coast Strategic Health Authorities, the Government Office for the South East, the South East England Development Agency and the South East England Regional Assembly – aims to increase awareness of, and bring focus to, the work of all organisations and groups in the South East that have a role to play in improving health and reducing inequalities.
Alongside the Health Strategy, the Public Health Group are working to increase understanding of public health issues and influence the work of our partners to ensure that ‘health’ is very much part of their agenda:
- the Regional Directors of Public Health are members of the Board of the Government Office for the South East and work to ensure that the health of the population is considered by senior decision makers in all government departments
- the Regional Directors are also members of SEERA-coordinated Healthy Region Forum which discusses health and social inclusion issues relevant to the region
- the Public Health Group and SHAs work closely with the South East Public Health Observatory to provide public health information and intelligence to support the development and implementation of public health policies and programmes
- the members of the Public Health Group are actively engaged in promoting awareness and understanding of public health priorities by presenting to groups such as environmental health officers who are part of the wider public health workforce
The Public Health Group are also committed to building public health capacity and expertise in the region through the development of staff from a variety of backgrounds. A number of national programmes provide opportunities for those working in public health to further their knowledge, develop their skills and gain recognition for their experience and professional expertise:
(page updated 14/07/2008)
