ADPH

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ADPH responds to review of Adult Screening Programmes in England

October 16, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Health Protection by admin

The Association of Directors of Public Health values the necessary focus on screening improvement that Professor Sir Mike Richards’ report provides.

We welcome the confirmation by the Secretary of State that Public Health England will provide the single source of expert advice on screening and his commitment to ensuring robust governance and accountability is in place for the different elements of screening.

We are concerned, however, that the local Director of Public Health role of oversight has not been highlighted and indeed strengthened.

Greg Fell, ADPH Board Member and Health Protection Lead, and Director of Public Health for Sheffield said:

“Directors of Public Health appreciated the opportunity to engage with Sir Mike Richards on this important review to address the challenge of delivering a more effective and accountable screening system.

However, we are disappointed that the report completely overlooks the importance of local leadership. This is a missed opportunity to strengthen the role of DsPH in providing this local leadership, using their knowledge of their population to tackle inequalities by improving screening coverage and uptake by all those who are eligible.

We look forward to further conversations with national and local partners in the NHS, public health and beyond to see stronger screening programmes and more lives saved.”

Further information

Click here to see the evidence ADPH submitted to the Public Account Committee’s inquiry on adult health screening in March 2019.

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Tags: Directors of Public Health, health protection, NHS England, public health, Public Health England, screening, Sir Mike Richards
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Directors of Public Health back ‘bold action’ on childhood obesity

October 10, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Children, Young People and Familes, Obesity, nutrition and physical activity by admin

ADPH responds to CMO’s report on Childhood Obesity

The Association of Directors of Public Health, and our members, welcome Professor Dame Sally Davies’ report on childhood obesity and her recommendation for further ‘bold action’ from the Government, to realise its ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030.

Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy, President of ADPH and Director of Public Health for Tameside commented:

“The report clearly presents the evidence of the ways that social and commercial determinants of health overwhelmingly shape our weight. We support the recommendations to address these, particularly those tackling the production, supply, marketing and sale of high calorie sugar and fat foods. This is something our members have frequently called for, and we note there is strong public support for it as well.

We were also pleased to see the emphasis on creating healthy places that give children ample opportunity to be active and healthy. Directors of Public Health have long played a key role in promoting children’s health in their areas, including by leading whole system approaches to obesity, of which the built environment is a core part.

National action that supports this local leadership is much welcomed, and also requires more investment in local councils and public health to be truly effective.”

Professor Jim McManus, Vice-President of ADPH and Director of Public Health for Hertfordshire said:

“It should be a fundamental right for all children to grow up in an environment that promotes, rather than harms, their health. Yet, as this report shows, it is not the case in England.

Professor Davies has issued a comprehensive and credible wake-up call about the scale of childhood obesity in modern Britain and the impact not just on health but on our children’s life chances.

Returning the right to healthy, active lives to our children requires a renewed sense of purpose and bold, decisive action from the Government and industry. Without this, not only will we fall short of achieving the goal of halving childhood obesity by 2030, but also fail our children, their health and future.”

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Tags: Childhood obesity, CMO, Jeanelle de Gruchy
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by admin

LGA/ADPH suicide prevention SLI programme

October 9, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Mental Health, Publications, Sector Led Improvement by admin

The LGA and ADPH are pleased bring to your attention the suicide prevention sector led improvement programme prospectus. The following support is available 2019/20:

National: a series of tools, products and events designed to provide wider and easier access to the good practice, learning and existing resources. This includes a series of webinars and a masterclass in Spring 2020.

Regional: grant funding allocated to ADPH networks to build on and support regional suicide prevention SLI activity

Local: bespoke expert support for up to twelve local authorities and partners who self-identify as facing significant delivery challenges locally around suicide prevention.

This prospectus provides more detail on each of the elements.

Suicide-Prevention-SLI-prospectus Download

Expressions of interest in bespoke support are now open, closing 5PM 1^st November 2019. The two-page-long submissions should cover the following two areas:

Describe the suicide prevention delivery challenge to be explored by the bespoke support
Provide evidence of local need

If the number of expressions of interest exceed the current level of support, priority will be given to areas whose significant local challenges would not be successfully addressed by other elements of the programme, in conjunction with the two elements set out above. Further details of each aspect can be found in the attached prospectus and on the website: www.local.gov.uk/suicide-prevention

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ADPH responds to impact of Minimum Unit Pricing for alcohol in Scotland

September 26, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Alcohol and Drugs by admin

An assessment of the immediate impact of the introduction of minimum unit pricing (MUP) on alcohol in Scotland found it was successful in reducing the amount of alcohol purchased by households in Scotland.

Responding to the findings, ADPH CEO Nicola Close said:

“ This is a valuable study that clearly demonstrates the impact national policies that reduce the affordability of alcohol can have on reducing alcohol-related harm.

There are health inequalities associated with alcohol harm. Lower socioeconomic status is associated with higher levels of alcohol-related ill-health and alcohol-attributable mortality.

The biggest drop in alcohol purchases was in lower income households, which shows the targeted effect such measures can have on reducing health inequalities.

Alcohol harm costs both individuals and society; one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways of reducing it is through national policies like MUP and our members strongly support its introduction.”

Click to read our policy position on alcohol and recommendations for national and local activity

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by Lucy Sutton

ADPH Press Statement: PrEP extension welcome but unresolved funding puts roll-out at risk

July 8, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Policies, Sexual and Reproductive Health by Lucy Sutton

On Friday 5th July NHS England announced that it would fund the NHS costs for the additional roll-out of places on the PrEP trial. This is very welcome, but by no means enough to enable roll-out and risks unfairly raising expectations.

The Government has left the issue of local authority costs unresolved despite repeated calls by the LGA and the ADPH, and as a result some clinics are already saying they will not have the necessary capacity to deliver more places for PrEP.

ADPH and LGA fully support increased PrEP availability, and would like to see the full roll-out, but this requires funding. Whilst the Government leaves funding unresolved this remains a barrier to roll-out. The previous extension of the trial announced in March 2019 has already created an unfunded £7million cost on councils.

ADPH Vice President Jim McManus said:

“The Government has given no thought to the strain this will put on local authorities at a time when they are already trying to meet unfunded burdens, contravening the Government’s own policy position on not creating such new burdens on councils.

“Clinicians are already saying they may not have capacity to roll-out PrEP because the current approach creates a double burden on local authorities and sexual health services – firstly, not all of the time and administrative costs incurred by involvement with the trial are met by NHS England, for instance the additional resources needed to help with data entry are not met by NHS England. Secondly, the further associated costs of HIV tests and repeat GUM visits and other tests are paid for by councils through the public health budget.

“The ADPH called on the Department of Health and Social Care in March to work with us on securing the funding for a full roll-out. This would cost less than 1% of the money spent in bailing out NHS Acute Trust Deficits in 2019. We are disappointed our call has gone unheeded.

“The Government has stated its ambition for zero HIV transmission. It now needs to put its money behind its rhetoric. For PrEP to be rolled out public health needs a long-term and sustainable funding package, and this must be addressed by the Spending Review. But that will be too late for the immediate term and we have been urging the Government since December 2018 to act now. A small investment should resolve this issue and prevent avoidable HIV infections. If the Government believes in zero HIV transmission it needs to resolve this.”

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What Good Looks Like

June 28, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Children, Young People and Familes, Obesity, nutrition and physical activity, Publications, Sector Led Improvement, Tobacco by admin

The Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) and Public Health England (PHE) have co-produced a series of ‘What Good Looks Like’ (WGLL) publications that set out the guiding principles of ‘what good quality looks like’ for population health programmes in local systems.

The WGLL publications are based on the evidence of ‘what works and how it works’ including effectiveness, efficiency, equity, examples of best practices, opinions and viewpoints and, where available a return on investment.

Each publication sets out the guiding principles of what good quality looks like for population health programmes in local systems and aims to be a practical resource for leaders and practitioners in the public health system in England.

The publications are not perfect standards, nor are they intended to be compared against as a performance management tool. They are intended as a tool in assist in the sector-led improvement (SLI) process and to support local resource decisions. Some ADPH networks are developing
specific SLI tools from them and we would encourage others to take up that opportunity.

The WGLL publications will be a repository for evidence and a resource for good quality practice from the essential to the transformational which professionals can dip in to when reviewing their own practice, setting up peer challenge or transforming services.

The initial series will include ten publications covering a range of topics across public health. They will be iterative, with regular reviews and updates when new evidence and insights emerge. The intention is to add to the ten WGLL publications with additional topics to create a rich and good quality resource.

Comments on the publications and particularly any ways in which they could be developed or improved are welcome. Please share them with us, or through the PHE Knowledge Hub.

What Good Looks Like – Programme Summary Download

What Good Looks Like publications

Click to download a PDF of the publication. New publications will be added as they are released.

Visit K-Hub to see publication updates, case studies and view and submit comments.

What Good Children and Young People’s Public Health Looks Like Download

What Good Local Tobacco Control Looks Like Download

What Good Healthy Weight Looks Like Download

What Good Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Looks Like Download

What Good Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Provision Looks Like Download

What Good Public Mental Health Looks Like Final Download

What Good Health at Work Looks Like Download

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by Lucy Sutton

ADPH Press Release: Directors of Public Health committed to partnership working on suicide prevention

June 21, 2019 in ADPH Updates, Mental Health, Policies by Lucy Sutton

Attached is the ADPH press release following the publication of the report by the Samaritans and the University of Exeter on local authority suicide prevention plans.

ADPH press release – Directors of Public Health committed to partnership working on suicide prevention Download

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by Lucy Sutton

ADPH Press Release: ADPH backs call for a new national sexual health strategy

June 2, 2019 in ADPH Updates, PH Funding, Policies, Sexual and Reproductive Health by Lucy Sutton

On Sunday 2nd June 2019, the Health and Social Care Committee published a report on Sexual Health which calls on the Government to increase funding for sexual and reproductive health.

Press statement – Health Select Committee Sexual Health Report

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by Lucy Sutton