Public Health
Observatories mark 10 th anniversary
The organisation designed to help make the smartest use of health
data across the NHS will celebrate its 10 th anniversary today.
The Public Health Observatories (PHOs) will mark the anniversary
with a joint one-day conference with the Department of Health
where the keynote address will be delivered by the Chief Medical
Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson.
Public Health Observatories represent the largest concentration
of public health intelligence across the UK. They harness the
expertise of over 150 public health professionals to turn
information and data into meaningful health intelligence and to
inform local practice. Successes include:
· the annual Health Profiles, providing a comprehensive snapshot
of the health of every local authority population to underpin
partnership working to improve health;
· the Health Inequalities Intervention Tools, showing the impact
that interventions can make in reducing the health gaps between
the most deprived and the rest of the population; and
· Disease Prevalence Models, to enable commissioners to calculate
the level of services needed among their local population for
conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and dementia,
and invest the appropriate level of resources for prevention,
early detection, treatment and care.
Other conference speakers include Chair of the Association of
Public Health Observatories, Professor Brian Ferguson, London
Health Observatory Director Dr Bobbie Jacobson and Dr Ben
Goldacre, author of ‘Bad Science’ and a Research Fellow at the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The event will
reflect on the successes over the past decade and challenges
ahead, including knowledge transfer, ready access to health data
and information sharing.
APHO Chair and Yorkshire and Humber PHO Director,
Professor Brian Ferguson said:
"I am delighted that we are taking the opportunity to
look back upon and reflect on the achievements of the
observatories over the last decade. It is not a time for us to be
complacent, since health intelligence faces the same difficult
times as other parts of the NHS.
It is, instead, an opportunity for us to look to the future and
make sure we maximise the benefit from scarce health intelligence
resources. Better population health will be brought about by more
informed decision-making, and observatories need to remain at the
forefront of the debate.”
Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said:
“In the past decade Public Health
Observatories have become indispensable to the infrastructure of
promoting and protecting the nation’s health.
“This 10 th anniversary of the establishment of the Public
Health Observatories marks the success in the growth of the role
and position of public health intelligence. The information
provided by the Observatories is essential for helping form the
decisions and policy made to improve the health of the population.”
Notes to Editors
For further information, contact the Department of
Health newsdesk on: 020 7210 5221
Notes to editors
· The one-day conference is being held on Tuesday 9 March 2010 at
Westminster Central Hall.
· Full Details of the programme, speakers and seminars can be
found at http//www.apho.org.uk
· A new improved Health Inequalities Intervention Toolkit,
which will allow local trusts to monitor and respond to trends in
infant mortality and life expectancy to tackle health
inequalities, was launched today by Public Health Minister,
Gillian Merron.
The Health Inequalities Intervention Toolkit was developed by
the Association of Public Health Observatories and Department of
Health and contains tools to support planning to achieve both
objectives within the national health inequalities target. This
includes tools on Life expectancy, infant mortality and
commissioning interventions. The Toolkit is available at http://www.lho.org.uk/LHO_Topics/Analytic_Tools/HealthInequalitiesInterventionToolkit.aspx
· The Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) brings
the English regional Public Health Observatories (PHOs), the
national PHOs for Scotland and Wales and the all-Ireland
Observatory, together in a single network. This gives APHO a
uniquely flexible approach, working as it does with the full range
of national and regional policies, administrative structures and
diverse data requirements.
· The network uses unequalled opportunities to contribute to and
to learn from comparative analysis across the five nations, and
APHO also has active links with parallel organisations working
across the EC member states and beyond. Our unique position at the
heart of public health policy and practice means we can offer
customers and stakeholders a growing and highly-valued range of
services and support:
· The network represents the largest concentration of public
health intelligence expertise in the UK and Republic of Ireland
and harnesses the expertise of over 150 public health intelligence
professionals . . At local , regional and national levels we help
customers retrieve and commission the information they need and
both the APHO and PHO websites provide a regular stream of
products and tools, training and technical support. We work with
partners to constantly improve the quality and accessibility of
the data and intelligence available to frontline decision makers.
· Working with a wide range of partners, both in the UK and
internationally, we are constantly learning new and better ways of
collating, analysing and using health intelligence data. We use
what we learn to improve the quality of our own work, and share
this knowledge with our customers and partners.
· Health Profiles http://www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?RID=49802
· Health Inequalities Intervention Tools http://www.lho.org.uk/LHO_Topics/Analytic_Tools/HealthInequalitiesTool.aspx
· Disease Prevalence Models http://www.apho.org.uk/resource/view.aspx?RID=48308
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk