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| FPH Bulletin - Issue 43 - September 2008 | |
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Dear !*CONTACTS_FIRSTNAME*! Autumn beckons, and it's back to school, back to work and back to the cut and thrust of public health. The politicians are at it already. With the party conferences looming, Andrew Lansley has fired off what amounts to the Tories' public health 'manifesto' under the banner 'No excuses, no nannying', with mixed messages about empowerment and environment, and support for public health infrastructures. It'll be interesting to hear how the other parties respond. They all talk big about public health – but how big, how substantive and how sustained? This year I shall be dropping in on the Labour party gathering in Manchester to join a round-table discussion with public health minister Dawn Primarolo and others on prevention in primary care and its impact on health inequalities. An opportunity to help shape policy perhaps? Talking of which, we've just seen the publication of the long-awaited final report from Sir Michael Marmot's WHO-sponsored Commission on Social Determinants of Health. The report highlights the huge differences in life chances between, say, Sweden and sub-Saharan Africa, whilst hammering home the injustices of health inequity and calls for governments, civil society, health professionals, business, and a range of other organisations to join a global movement to improve the lives of the world's citizens. To tie in with this, the theme of the next edition of ph.com will be public health in the international context and will set out how the FPH, as a membership organisation and standard-setting body, are taking forward our overseas work as rapidly as possible. I have no doubt this is a key role for FPH, as the WHO Commission's report concludes: 'Achieving health equity within a generation is achievable, it is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it'. Best wishes Alan Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NHS - SDU Need your Views FPH has welcomed the publication of a new strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS in England. Saving Carbon, Improving Health: A Carbon Reduction Strategy for the NHS in England was launched by the Sustainable Development Unit and adds to the growing tide of opinion that the NHS - and the wider health community - must take the lead in the climate change and sustainable development agendas. FPH will be responding to the consultation and if you want to share your view with us email: comments@fph.org.uk However, with this consultation numbers count! So please try and submit your views in any way you can, and help show that the NHS needs to 'green up its act - now! The FPH has published a practical guide to tackling climate change within the NHS - Sustaining a Healthy Future. It can be found on the website at www.fph.org.uk/resources/sustainable_development/ Incapacity Benefit is changing... From 27 October, Employment and Support Allowance will replace Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers across the UK. The overarching principle of Employment and Support Allowance is that everyone should have the opportunity to work and that people with an illness or disability should get the help and support necessary for them to engage in appropriate work, if they are able. The new allowance builds on the success of the 'Pathways to Work' programme, which has helped over 64,000 people into work and offers support such as condition management programmes designed to help patients manage and cope with their illness or disability. Employment and Support Allowance will not make significant changes to GPs' interactions with patients as entitlement will, for most customers, be confirmed by Department for Work and Pensions or the Northern Ireland Social Security Agency through the new Work Capability Assessment. For more information visit: www.dwp.gov.uk/esa, in Northern Ireland visit: www.dsdni.gov.uk/esa New Shared Learning Award for Public Health To celebrate the very best of the content on its Shared Learning database, NICE has established a Shared Learning Award. This database holds examples of how NICE guidance has been implemented and aims to share learning among NHS, local authorities, voluntary and community organisations and others. The submissions will be judged under three categories: projects focused on getting public health guidance into practice, projects covering general implementation systems or approaches and projects focused on implementing specific clinical guidance. Those short listed for the award will be given a platform to present their work to their peers at the NICE conference 2008 and will be offered free and discounted places. Along with the personal and professional satisfaction of winning the award, there is also £500 up for grabs in each category, with an additional £1000 for the overall winner, to support implementation projects in your organisation. NICE also use the best of the shared learning submissions in various journal articles providing further publicity for your work. To be in with a chance of wining please submit your examples of putting NICE guidance into practice to the Shared Learning database by 30 September 2008. www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearningawards Choosing Health places local government back at the centre of health improvement and calls for authorities to provide local leadership to bring concerted and integrated local action on health. With the aims of providing participants with the knowledge, skills and language to promote health within council roles, and developing public health champions working in key decision-making roles, Greenwich Council with NHS London designed and delivered a course for 17 senior managers. Sessions covered wider determinants of health; health needs assessment; myths about mental health; healthy lifestyles and health promotion; health impact assessment; spatial planning and health; workplace health; and role of the local authority. Additionally, participants were required to explore opportunities to improve health outcomes within their roles through a solo or group project to demonstrate positive health impacts. The 12 projects resulted in positive action being taken in departments across the council to change practice. Topics included: improving assessment for young homeless people; Identifying important determinants of health for young offenders; health promotion with school crossing patrols; and mapping health inequalities across community centres to tailor health promotion interventions. NICE and Public Health – Opportunities for Training The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has appointed two Public Health Collaborating Centres (PHCCs). These produce evidence reviews for developing NICE guidance on public health. This work tackles important methodological and practical questions in public health. It requires a combination of public health expertise and strengths in information science, evidence synthesis, health economics and modelling. If you are interested in this exciting new area and would like to join one of the PHCCs for a 6-12 month secondment at the end of training please contact:
CO-Awareness, a non-profit organisation which seeks to raise awareness of the devastating effects of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, will launch CO-Awareness Week at the House of Lords on 17 November. Activities during the week will include visits to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the council chambers in Liverpool. If you would like to learn more about their work, more information can be found at http://www.co-awareness.org Clinical Excellence and Distinction Awards Schemes for Consultants in the UK Applications for FPH support for national level consultants' clinical excellence awards (England and Wales) and distinction awards (Scotland) are now open. Beginning with the 2009 awards round, applications for FPH support for national level consultants' clinical excellence awards and distinction awards (Scotland) are being invited from all FPH members directly into FPH instead of via a local regional or country process. The change is intended to provide an equal opportunity for all eligible consultants to apply for FPH support. You should contact your FPH Adviser in the first instance if you need advice about your application. To apply for support and download the guidance and forms please visit the website. Horizons in Medicine Volume 19 The Horizons in Medicine series provides essential information for a wide range of readers from different specialties and interests. The papers in volume 19 are based on the popular Advanced Medicine conference organised annually by the Royal College of Physicians. FPH members can now purchase a copy at a special discounted rate. For more information, please visit: http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/brochure.aspx?e=243 And finally... FPH President exposes jargon epidemic In response to a British Medical Journal article on public health and its use of mainstream jargon, Alan Maryon-Davis was quick to 'engage' and 'mainstream' a response. His response can be found at: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/337/jul31_4/a1109#200679 and the original article appears on the BMJ website here http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/337/jul31_4/a1109 |
In this issue Carbon Reduction strategy for the NHS - SDU Need Your Views Incapacity Benefit is changing... New Shared Learning Award for Public Health NICE and Public Health – Opportunities for Training Clinical Excellence and Distinction Awards Schemes for Consultants in the UK Dates for your diary Delivering a Local Public Health Strategy for Scotland Beyond Pathways to Work: Health, Work and Well-being Health Protection 2008 Third Oxford Health and Homelessness Conference University of Oxford World Social Marketing Conference The Safety of Birth Conference Health Impact Assessment & Sustainable Well-being Priorities in Healthcare Conference 2008 Clinical update in STIs and sexual health 7th International Bird Flu Summit Society for Genomics Policy and Population Health (SGPPH) AGM 4th Crash Course in Concepts of Epidemiology For all the latest information on the faculty please visit the website at:www.fph.org.uk |
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