Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• PHE would welcome comments on their first digital strategy published last Friday.  This sets out how PHE will work across government, with their partners and across PHE to take advantage of the increasing opportunities of digital technology
• Publication of new data to support local decision making, with updates to the Local Alcohol Profiles and the Local Tobacco Control Profiles for England
• Several updates to the Public Health Outcomes Framework, including a number of new indicators
• A visit to Germany’s national public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute
• A visit to RIVM, the renowned National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands
• The annual NHS Health Check conference
• Publication of new training resources to support the NHS in advising people over 65 regarding dementia
• New research, funded by Cancer Research UK and carried out by UK and US scientists, was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine regarding
• NHS England has created a short animation for NHS staff, the wider public and patients to help explain how sustainability and transformation plans seek to improve health and care services for local people

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 10 February 2017

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• PHE has supported Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership to publish an ambitious plan for public health that targets all stages of life, puts strong focus on prevention and clearly links better health and wellbeing with work prospects and the economy
• PHE held a joint roundtable with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy to look at how they can develop a return on investment tool for spend on prevention that draws on the evidence base, provides a clear appraisal model for investing in upstream prevention and endorses a step change in annual financial reporting of preventative spend
• the return of PHE’s ActFAST campaign, which reminds people of the key symptoms of stroke and the importance of calling 999 immediately
• the National Falls Prevention Coordination Group, coordinated by PHE, published a consensus statement that outlines ways to support effective and integrated commissioning of interventions to help prevent falls and fractures
• a programme of ‘getting to know you’ events is being planned for PHE staff to see the potential of the move by 2024 to their new scientific campus in Harlow, Essex
• congratulations to Professor Kevin Fenton, PHE’s Director of Health and Wellbeing, who will be embarking on a three-year secondment to Southwark Council starting in April

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 3 February 2017

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• the Government’s proposal for a modern industrial strategy – relevant to improving the public’s health
• the launch of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s State of Child Health 2017 report
• publication of PHE’s comprehensive review of the evidence on the drug misuse treatment system in England
• publication of PHE co-badged guidance with NICE to advise the NHS and local authorities on changing risk-related behaviours to help tackle antimicrobial resistance
• teleconference to introduce the latest edition of Health Matters, which this month focuses on combating high blood pressure
• the retirement of Dr Brian McCloskey, PHE’s director of global health security, who has made a phenomenal contribution throughout his professional life in protecting the public’s health both at home and internationally
• new PHE Muslim Network aims to promote greater understanding between colleagues, raise awareness of Muslim culture and support PHE’s commitment to be an inclusive and diverse workplace

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 27 January 2017

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• PHE’s recent staff survey – showing that PHE has made significant progress in leading and managing change
• drop in new cases of TB and Collaborative TB Strategy for England
• new data on young people’s use of specialist substance misuse treatment services, alongside a review undertaken by The Children’s Society.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 20 January 2017

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• publication of a joint response to the Mental Health Taskforce’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health – along with a comprehensive package of measures to improve mental health support in schools, workplaces and communities announced by the Prime Minister.
• an update to the cross-government suicide prevention strategy was published alongside a number of new resources from PHE to help local decision makers improve support for those bereaved by suicide
• publication of an updated Atlas of Variation in NHS Diagnostic Services in England
• reviewing data to address variation in services at local CCG level
• publication of a new resource for directors of public health, police and crime commissioners and other local leaders on addressing the sharp inequalities experienced by people who have been in prison or in police custody at some point in their life. Rebalancing Act aims to support collaborative work between criminal justice and health agencies and a much broader range of local partners.
• the Local Government Association has drawn attention to the latest evaluation of the NHS Health Check.  This study suggests that the programme has prevented up to 8,400 heart attacks and strokes and that statins were 40% more likely to be prescribed to attendees compared with non-attendees.
• Be Clear on Cancer campaign pilot began across the North West of England, funded by Cancer Research UK and aimed at increasing participation of 60–74 year olds in the NHS bowel cancer screening programme. Subject to the evaluation of the pilot, the campaign will be rolled out across England from next year.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 13 January 2017

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• Happy New Year and first message of 2017 is also the first to be hosted on PHE’s blog, Public Health Matters
• Dr Mary E. Black, PHE’s head of digital strategy, published a blog on the BMJ about the profound effect that smoking has had on her family and the responsibility that we all have to make the NHS a place that provides a supportive tobacco-free environment for everyone – well worth a read
• New Year resolutions – PHE was there to support people with three new campaigns:
  • new Be Food Smart app allows people to scan the barcode of more than 112,000 everyday food or drink products to see how much sugar, saturated fat and salt they contain at a glance
  • the How Are You? health quiz for adults to find out where they can take a little action to make a big difference to their health
  • PHE’s Smokefree campaign also took advantage of the New Year to encourage smokers to quit, with hard hitting TV adverts and a new film featuring children talking about the harms of smoking
• A new package of measures funded by NHS England includes £15 million to support further roll out of the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme over the next two years across 13 new areas
• The European Centre for Disease Control has been developing standards for the delivery of microbiology in public health, and the recent assessment for the UK confirms the strong and effective infrastructure we have for this work – a great endorsement for our laboratory scientists and microbiologists as we begin the new year
• the recent edition of Public Sector Focus, which features PHE Chief Knowledge Officer Professor John Newton giving his take on the role of digital technology to improve services and outcomes

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 6 January 2017

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• Christmas Greetings
• recommendation for newborn babies to have blood spot screen
• new PHE commissioning guidance informed by PHE’s work on homelessness
• a card that reminds GP receptionists and other practice staff of the national patient registration guidance
• PHE knowledge and library service

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 23 December 2016

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• PHE’s support of the federal government of Pakistan and the provincial government of Punjab to develop an integrated disease surveillance and response system
• the Government’s response to the Health Select Committee’s report of its inquiry into the new public health system post-2013, whether it has achieved its aims, and where further improvements might benecessary. They made 23 recommendations covering every aspect of the new system including the role of local government, the NHS, cross-government and PHE itself
• E-cigarettes
• launch of new PHE campaign in partnership with the UK Sepsis Trust to help parents of children under 5 identify the symptoms of sepsis to help support earlier diagnosis of this potentially life-threatening condition
• publication of the Health Survey for England – with lots of data

Short weekly update from the CEO of Public Health England (PHE), including:

• PHE and NHS England new joint HIV prevention initiative
• New data published by the British Thoracic Society shows that many NHS hospitals still have a long way to go to meet national standards on helping patients who smoke to quit and implementing completely smokefree estates.  Plus the review of smoking  cessation and smoke-free policies and practices across 146 UK hospitals
• In the fight against childhood obesity, Treasury announced legislation to bring its Soft Drinks Industry Levy into law in April 2018
• Paris climate agreement
• new film featuring the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir as part of the Stay Well This Winter campaign

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 9 December 2016