Emergence of major institutional changes in the public health sector
The reformed public health system for England (2013) will have long-term impacts on how public health services are delivered. The successful delivery of these services will be dependent on the quality, range and sustainability of workforce skills and competences.
The reformed system of locally devolved public health services delivery will mean new structural, commissioning and organizational arrangements. These will require the development of innovative relationships and partnerships across the public, private and third sectors (e.g. between the newly established Public Health England, the local government and third sectors, Health Education England, and LETBs). The transition to the new arrangements will occur within significantly constrained budgets, and in a climate in which efficiency savings are considered more crucial than ever. Essential skills sets, competencies and learned experience may be difficult to conserve and to transfer across organizational boundaries. Ameliorating the risks of professional isolation, breakdown of established knowledge networks and lack of competences demands a well-integrated flexible workforce. It also requires efficient and accessible workforce education and training systems that ensure a sustainable, wide and diverse range of expertise, at both local and national levels. Coherent and flexible career paths to encourage and retain leadership within the public health workforce and attract new recruits will also be of utmost importance in the long run.
Sources or references
- Healthy Lives, Healthy People, White Paper, DoH 2010
- Liberating the NHS: Developing the healthcare workforce (2011) DoH, Consultation documentation
- Public Health England People Transition Policy, 2012, DoH
- Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Towards a workforce strategy for the public health system, March 2012, DoH
- The Operating Model for Public Health England 2011 DoH
- The Public Health Outcomes Framework January 2012 DoH
- UK Sector Skills Report 2011: Skills for Health (2011) Sector Skills Council 2011
- Exceptional pressures will alter the face of the voluntary sector, says Recession Watch Panel (2009) Tristan Donovan in Third Sector accessed Aug 13 2012
- Evidence for the need to develop a robust public health practitioner workforce (2010) Zolle, O, NHS South Central Report, Aug 2010
- “PHORCASTING insights on public health careers” (2011) Wright, J: Perspectives in Public Health 2011 131: 20
Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.
