PUBLIC HEALTH IN TRANSITION - PHORCaST

PHORCaST
Newsletter – December 2011
other parts of the UK. Some of them
are highlighted in this newsletter.
www.phorcast.org.uk – This newsletter is
designed to keep you up-to-date with the
development of PHORCaST and to tell you
about new information and resources now
available on the site.
Please forward this newsletter through all
relevant channels available to you!
If you have a hard copy of this newsletter,
you can access the electronic version at
http://www.phorcast.org.uk/page.php?page_i
d=242
If you did not receive this newsletter directly
from PHORCaST and wish to be added to
the circulation list for future communications,
please send your email address to
ask@phorcast.org.uk
The Project Board – PHORCaST has
recently welcomed three new members on to
its board to ensure the site reflects the whole
public health workforce: Sarah Faulkner from
the Centre for Workforce Intelligence; Helena
Korjonen from the National Heart Forum (our
Third Sector representative); and Jim
Thomas from Skills for Care.
Quality Assurance – PHORCaST is
seeking volunteers to help assure the
quality of the information and links on
the website. If you would like to help,
please email ask@phorcast.org.uk
saying which areas you are competent
to comment on.
Specialty Training –
Applications for specialty training in
public health in England and Wales
opened fully at midday (GMT) on 25
November 2011 and will close at
midday (GMT) on 9 December 2011.
Applications for training in Scotland
opened at 9:00 (GMT) on 28 November
and will close at midday (GMT) on 9
December. Applications for training in
Northern Ireland opened on 14
November 2011.
User survey – We would like to ask
everyone who uses the PHORCaST website
to take a few minutes to complete our short
user survey and to give us their thoughts on
the site and any ideas for further site
development. Your responses will be used to
influence our objectives. The survey form is
available here. Alternatively write a quick
email to ask@phorcast.org.uk. All feedback
is much appreciated.
Website updates – Since our newsletter in
June, there have been numerous additions to
the PHORCaST website to provide support to
the public health workforce in the time of
transition in England, and also updates for
This year, the person specification has
been altered and those proposing to
apply should read the new specification
carefully to ensure they are eligible
before applying. Potential applicants
should also ensure that they are
available on the advertised dates for
the selection process. The specification
and guidance notes are available on
the Faculty of Public Health website.
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UK Public Health Register (UKPHR)
In April 2011, the register, previously open
only to specialists, was opened to
practitioners. The UKPHR sets standards for
registration that are recognised throughout
the UK. It requires registrants to meet these
standards, to maintain competence through
CPD and revalidation, and to adhere to a
code of conduct. Registration therefore
provides the public with significant protection
from unprofessional or unethical behaviour
and also enhances recognition for the public
health professional.
Currently, you can only apply to register as a
public health practitioner with the UKPHR
through a local assessment and verification
scheme. There are at present only four
schemes in the UK (NHS South Central,
Public Health Wales, NHS West Midlands,
NHS Kent and Medway) and to participate
you need to work in the areas the schemes
cover. Individuals cannot apply directly to
UKPHR but they can get involved in
establishing a scheme locally or regionally.
For further information see the new
PHORCaST pages on Practitioner
Registration, with a feature on the Welsh
Practitioner Portfolio Development
Programme.
Public Health in the Armed Forces –
Thanks to Lt. Col. David A. Ross of the Army
Medical Directorate, we now have a page
describing the role of Defence Medical
Services, its history, selection and training
processes, assessment, continuing
professional development as a Consultant,
and the opportunities available after
completion of training.
News from Wales –
Public Health Practitioner Portfolio
Development Programme
Applications for the latest intake of
applicants on to the programme have
recently closed and we are pleased to
announce that we now have two new
practitioners on the fast track
programme, having moved from the
support programme. We also have five
new practitioners on the Support route.
For more details on the Public Health
practitioner Portfolio Development
Programme click here.
Action Learning
The Action Learning pilot is ongoing
and recruitment for Action Learning
facilitators has begun. For further
information, click here.
Learning Logs
Public Health Wales has recently had
learning logs produced. These are
journals to encourage reflective
practice and record evidence for any
learning or professional development.
CPD Events
Public Health Wales has a very busy
programme of CPD over the
forthcoming months. Events include:
How to Carry Out a Literature Review;
Rapid Strategy Development
Masterclass; Evaluation Workshops;
Communication and Leadership
workshops. Please see the CPD pages
of the Public Health Wales website for
more information.
National Workforce Development Plan
for Wales
This is being rewritten now, following
consultation. A draft will be available in
the new year.
Public Health transition in England –
To keep up with information and
documents on the transition of public
health in England, take a look out our
dedicated page and the associated
transition timetable.
On 2 November MPs on the Health
Select Committee published a report
expressing the view that the main case
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for combining a range of public health
functions to create Public Health England lies
“in the need for an independent voice for
public health at the heart of government….
Public Health England must be - and, just as
importantly, must be perceived as being -
independent of the Government.” The full
report and its recommendations can be read
on the Parliament website here.
HR agreement for public health transition
to local government –
The Public Health Human Resources
Concordat (November 2011) is a best
practice framework for organisational
changes affecting staff as part of the
transition from the NHS to local government.
It explains: overarching public health HR
transition principles; the responsibilities of
NHS and local authority employers;
timeline; guiding principles and HR
standards for the transfer of PCT public
health commissioning activity and functions
to local authorities; equality and diversity.
Development Manager, NHS
Nottingham City. A story from Helena
Korjonen, Director of Information
Services, National Heart Forum,
enhances our range of stories on Public
Health Intelligence. In the area of
Health Promotion we have a new story
from Christine Farr, a Health Promotion
Practitioner in the Cardiff and Vale
Public Health Team. Bob Baines, a
public health practitioner with Public
Health Wales, has also contributed the
story of how he entered and
progressed in public health.
Department of Health Bulletins
Are you aware that the DH website has some
useful regular bulletins regarding public
health? For example, there is the October
edition of the Public Health Responsibility
Deal bulletin, and the November edition
(issue 3) of the Transforming Public Health
bulletin. There is also a page giving some
information about the Timeline for Developing
Public Health England.
Feature Career Stories – Our page
explaining how local authorities will in
future be leading on public health is
now complemented by two informative
feature stories, one by Kate Ardern,
Executive Director of Public Health for
the Borough of Wigan, the other by Jim
McManus, Joint Director of Public
Health, Birmingham City Council.
Developing the Healthcare Workforce –
On 20 December 2010, the Department of
Health published its consultation, Liberating
the NHS: Developing the healthcare
workforce. The consultation on the document
closed on 31 March and on 18 August 2011,
a summary of consultation responses was
published. The Government’s formal
response to the consultation is expected
soon and we will inform readers when it
appears.
Career Stories – Several new stories have
been added to the site recently. To
complement our page on Sustainable
Development, we now have a story from
Helen Ross, Senior Public Health
Call for Career Stories – Career
stories are at the heart of PHORCaST
since they illustrate different ways of
entering the field and progressing in it.
However, they must be wide-ranging
and kept up-to-date. If you spot a gap
in our coverage of the wide range of
roles in public health and can suggest
how to fill it, or if you think your own
experience in public health would
usefully inform others, we would be
very pleased to hear from you
(ask@phorcast.org.uk). We are
particularly keen to receive careers
stories from Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland.
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Events –
5-9 December: Concepts of Epidemiology
course (University of Edinburgh)
14 December: Faculty of Public Health
Medicine Winter Scientific Meeting (RCPI,
Dublin)
8-10 February 2012: Helping Families
Change conference (Grand Central Hotel,
Glasgow)
17 February 2012: Public Health is Every
Nurse’s Business (Novotel West, London)
8 March 2012: Skills for Care Annual
Conference: The Value of Workforce
Development in Tough Times (Hilton,
Manchester)
29 March 2012: GovKnow Health and Social
Care Conference (London)
For more events, see the PHORCaST events
listing.
Careers Advice – Unfortunately PHORCaST
cannot provide personal careers advice. If
you wish to discuss your options, you might
make a start by approaching the NHS
Careers helpline (0345 60 60 655, 9.00am –
7.00pm, Monday to Friday) or the Health
Learning and Skills Advice Line (08000 150
850, 8.00am – 10.00pm, seven days a
week).
Keep in touch – If your career story is
already featured on PHORCaST,
please make sure we have your current
contact details and tell us whenever
you would like to update your story.
Your feedback – If you haven’t yet
given us your views about PHORCaST,
please send an email, however brief, to
ask@phorcast.org.uk. PHORCaST is
for you, so we need your views and
suggestions to ensure the site delivers
to its audience.
Useful links – Throughout the website
and especially here, PHORCaST
provides a wide range of weblinks to
useful sites in all areas relating to
public health from Alcohol, through
Mental Health, to Smoking. If you think
an important site is not listed, please
tell us (ask@phorcast.org.uk).
Link to us - Finally, please help us to
promote PHORCaST by asking for a
link to www.phorcast.org.uk to be made
from your organisation’s website.
Published by the PHORCaST Team
All communications in relation to this bulletin or to the PHORCaST site should be sent to
ask@phorcast.org.uk
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