PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 7 October 2016

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

New report from PHE’s dementia and end of life care intelligence network which revealed that the proportion of people dying with a recorded dementia diagnosis has more than doubled since 2001
Publication of the Lambert Toolkit which is the result of the PHE fast track evaluation agreement – developed during the Ebola crisis to make it easier for public bodies that need to respond to rapidly-evolving situations to work in an agile way, and at short notice, with industry and academia
The second public exhibition to unveil the latest plans for the PHE headquarters and Science Hub at Harlow
This year’s Stay Well This Winter campaign launches next week with the aim of easing seasonal pressures on NHS services over winter, and supports the biggest ever flu vaccination programme in England for children
Appointment of Dr Neil Squires as our first director of global public health.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 7 October 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 30 September 2016

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

launch of PHE’s Sugar Reduction Programme with a briefing event for food manufacturers
BBC coverage of an initiative launched by a local GP to champion public health and improve health outcomes in his community
To mark World Heart Day, a new and improved version of the Heart Age tool, alongside new data showing that four in five (79.2%) people over 30 in England have a heart age older than their chronological age
New Tuberculosis (TB) in England 2016 report revealed a year-on-year decline in TB cases over the past four years, down to 5,758 in 2015
Academy of Medical Sciences published Improving the health of the public by 2040, calling for a radical upgrade in the UK’s approach to public health research

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 30 September 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 23 September 2016

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

launch of Stoptober 2016 , PHE’s 28-day stop smoking campaign including the introduction of a Facebook Messenger quitting tool for the first time, which will provide 28 days of messages, tips and support
the Healthy Workplace Conference
launch of the NHS planning guidance, which sets out the operating framework that will support the delivery of the 44 place-based sustainability and transformation plans (STPs)
new research from PHE and the University of Exeter Medical School on outdoor exercise
PHE partnership with National Parks England

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 23 September 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 9 September 2016

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

Halving of MenB cases since the introduction of the vaccine
report commissioned by PHE and the LGA outlining principles to tackle deaths from drug misuse
latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey data for 2012-2014 showing a slight dip in the amount of sugar consumed by children
guidance, jointly developed with the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), to help clarify the current public health grant conditions and mandated functions in local government

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 9 September 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday Message 12 August 2016

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

new areas of collaboration for PHE’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards at Harwell
increase in measles linked with music festivals
publication of a refreshed Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework
PHE’s Annual Conference, 13-14 September at Warwick University
Be Clear on Cancer roadshow which begins touring on Monday

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 12 August 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday message 29 July 2016

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

review of the latest editino of the Health Matters blog which focused on getting every adult active
Commission for Health and Social Care Integration in the North East, which looks at how the NHS, councils and other organisations, including the voluntary and community sector,can further develop the work they do together to improve health and wellbeing across the North East
PHE annual hepatitis C 2016 report which was published on World Hepatitis Day
Roundtable meeting this week focused on unintentional injury to children
Publication of PHE’s third Annual Report.

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 29 July 2016

PHE: Best start in life knowledge hub

Improving early years services from pregnancy to age 5

The new Best start in life knowledge hub from PHE brings together information and evidence in one place to help commissioners, providers and professionals in commissioning for better outcomes during pregnancy and in the early years.

It supports Public Health England’s national priority of ensuring every child has the best start in life: every woman experiencing a healthy pregnancy; every child ready to learn at 2; every child ready for school at 5; and a reduction in child obesity.

The hub provides easy access to key resources, including government policy, guidelines and guidance, reports, data, evidence summaries and examples of what works in practice. You can search or browse resources by topics such as healthy pregnancy; good health and development; healthy weight; speech, language and communication; relationships and resilience; and safe from harm.

The PHE Best Start knowledge hub is freely available here

PHE: Reminder on changes to the meningococcal C (MenC) vaccination schedule from 1 July 2016

Public Health England (PHE) reminds that the infant dose of MenC that is normally given at three months of age has now been removed from the childhood immunisation schedule (from 1 July 2016). All children will continue to be offered a combined Hib/MenC vaccine when they reach one year of age. This, along with the adolescent MenACWY vaccination, will help to provide protection across all age groups including infants and children.

There are almost no cases of MenC disease in infants or young children in the UK. Most cases are seen in over 25s with a history of travel outside of the UK or coming to the UK from abroad. The Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination (JCVI) advised that the removal of the infant MenC dose, alongside the introduction of the MenB vaccine (Bexsero®) into the routine immunisation programme, would not have any significant risk associated with it, providing that community protection could be sustained by the MenACWY programme that was introduced for teenagers in September 2015. The MenB vaccination for infants, introduced in September 2015, may also help prevent some MenC cases.

Please also remain aware that not all meningococcal disease cases are vaccine preventable, and cases can still occur in vaccinated infants and children. There are also other rare types of the disease for which there is no vaccine currently in use. It therefore remains important for public health practitioners to urge parents to be alert to the symptoms and seek urgent medical attention if ever there is concern. This is particularly important as the new meningococcal vaccination programmes become fully established.

Please assure parents that effective control of this disease within our communities will remain. To help with this, a leaflet for parents is available to order from the DH Orderline please use product code 2904568 and also available to download below. Action is being taken to update PHE and NHS literature and this will gradually be reflected in documents that are already in circulation.

Download Meningococcal C (MenC) vaccination: leaflet for parents

Further information can be found in the April edition of Vaccine Update and in the official guidance for professionals

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday message 8 July 2016

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

short review of the LGA annual conference
STI awareness
60th anniversary of the Clean Air Act
e-cigarettes symposium where a new framework to support employers and organisations to develop their own vaping policies was launched
Change4Life 10 Minute Shake Up partnership with Disney
and, of particular interest as it has caused some confusion, the consensus statement published this week by 21 leading health, consumer and professional organisations in support of the PHE Eatwell Guide

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 8 July 2016

PHE – Duncan Selbie’s Friday message 20 May 2016

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

Soft Drinks Industry Levy
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) Report
Local Government Association (LGA) and PHE joint briefing on health, work and worklessness to support local authorities as they improve workplace health and reduce the employment gap for people with long term conditions and disabilities
Fit for the Future – Public Health People report on recommendations on the current and future challenges facing the public health workforce

Duncan Selbie's Friday message: 20 May 2016