The NHS maintains a role in public health

There are signs that NHS organisations are beginning to recruit public health (PH) staff, especially CCGs and trusts.  Under the Five Year Forward View, public health should be within NHS workforces and that NHS needs to move away from medical treatment model.

There will need to be an increasingly collaborative approach between NHS and social care workforces, and there is a need to mobilise wider workforces in support of public health.  

There is likely to be a move away from Make Every Contact Count (MECC) towards focused campaigns such as Change4Life and Stoptober, which have succeeded in reaching people before they reach the GP.  PH teams could promote healthcare within the NHS, as well as encouraging better outcomes (traditional NHS structures have tended to reward for attendances, rather than preventing them).

Training placements may also need to reflect this need for public health staff to work with the NHS.

Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.