Training and Career Development
Public Health Apprenticeships
There are a number of apprenticeships which support public health careers. The FutureNHS Public Health Apprenticeships East of England collaborative workspace for public health apprentices and employers in the region contains resources to support public health apprenticeships and informal forum space to share ideas, collaborate and ask questions.
Level 3 Community Health and Wellbeing Worker
Level 6 Public Health Practitioner (integrated degree)
Level 6 Environmental Health Practitioner (integrated degree)
Level 7 Systems Thinking Practitioner
Level 7 Specialist and Community PH Nurse
There is additionally an apprenticeship career pathway for public health intelligence:
Level 6 Data Scientist (integrated degree)
Level 7 Health and Care Intelligence Specialist
Apprenticeships that support public health careers
Skills for Health – Public Health Apprenticeships
Public Health Practitioners
Public Health Practitioners (PHPs) are part of the core public health workforce. They work in various areas including health improvement, health protection, and health and social care. They may work in the public, private, voluntary and community sectors and contribute to public health outcomes and improving health and wellbeing.
Public Health Practitioners can register with the United Kingdom Public Health Register (UKPHR) and those already working at public health practitioner level can be supported to complete and submit a portfolio of evidence documenting the breadth of their knowledge and experience to gain UKPHR practitioner registration, through the East of England PHP Portfolio Programme.
You can find out more about practitioner registration via retrospective portfolio here.
Public Health Practitioner Training Directory
The NHS WTE Public Health Practitioner Training Directory supports those completing the regional practitioner portfolio programme and maps education and training opportunities that support individuals to meet the knowledge base for the UKPHR public health practitioner standards.
Practitioner Portfolio Programme Assessor and Verifier Roles
The practitioner portfolio programme requires a number of regional assessors and verifiers in order to support the programme. These roles offer a developmental opportunity for the senior public health workforce and will be of interest to those wishing to develop their skills and support the ongoing development and professionalisation of the public health workforce.
Full training is provided by UKPHR and roles are flexible and carried our remotely. ‘Trained to assess’ contributes towards your own CPD.
You can apply to be an assessor or verifier here.
Public Health Advanced Practitioners
In September 2021, the People in UK Public Health (PiUKPH) Group tasked a four nations working group to undertake a project to further understand the scope and need for Public Health Advanced Practitioner development.
The working group set out to answer key questions which included:
- What are the characteristics and functions of a Public Health Advanced Practitioner?
- What is the estimated size of this workforce?
- What are the common development needs of this workforce?
- What types of interventions would support the development of Public Health Advanced Practitioners?
- What impact do Public Health Advanced Practitioners have in delivering the public health function
This work has recently concluded, and you can read the final report and recommendations on the UKPHR website.
Public Health Specialists / Consultants
Public health specialists focus on health at a population level, looking at ways to make communities and environments healthier, reducing ill-health and tackling health inequalities. Public Health Specialists require skills in all three main ‘domains’ of public health (health protection, health improvement, healthcare public health), but in practice they may specialise in one area.
Specialty Training Programme
NHS Workforce Training and Education has a statutory responsibility for the training of public health specialists, which, in our region, is achieved through the East of England School of Public Health Specialty Training Programme. This programme aims to provide the knowledge, skills and experience needed to be an effective public health specialist and covers the academic, health protection and service components of public health practice.
Specialist Registration by Portfolio Assessment (SRbPA)
Similarly to the retrospective portfolio application for practitioner registration, there is a retrospective portfolio route to specialist registration. The UKPHR’s Specialist Registration by Portfolio Assessment (SRbPA) is an assessment of knowledge, skills and experience for those who are already working at specialist/consultant level in public health and who have substantial experience at senior level across all key areas of public health.
Please Click Here for more information on our regional support programme for SRbPA.
Population Health Fellowship
A population health fellowship aims to develop and grow a workforce of professionals who will incorporate population health into their everyday jobs. NHS England’s Long Term Workforce Plan aspires to have a fellow working in every ICS to support the development of local population health expertise.
Fellows have been recruited from a wide range of backgrounds including nursing, pharmacy, medicine, speech and language therapy, dietetics, orthotics and physiotherapy. They are seconded part-time (for two days per week) to the fellowship, alongside their permanent post, and will experience a mixture of blended and experiential learning. The aim is to encourage and support the development of population health strategies and approaches within the NHS and wider community. This programme is linked to other training pathways on population health.
For more information email: england.populationhealthfellows@nhs.net
Mentoring
Mentoring is a transformational process that seeks to help individuals develop and use their knowledge to improve themselves.
To find out more and to support the implementation of a local mentoring scheme you can watch this short (30minute) video which provides current and prospective mentors with the fundamentals of providing effective mentoring and setting up a programme.