News Archive
23/09/11 | New avenues open for UK public health practitioners
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01/08/11 | Upcoming Conference
For those who are interested in pursuing or developing a career in public health you are invited to attend
The Next Generation: Public Health Careers for 21st Century, 20th September 2011.
Organised by the Oxford Public Health Training Programme in association with The University of Oxford it is an ideal opportunity to network and participate in workshops to feed ideas into the public health workforce strategy amongst other topics
For more information please click here
27/01/11 | Professional Appraisal – implications for Multidisciplinary Public Health
While professional appraisal has been mandatory for all NHS medical Consultants for several years it is not yet standard practice for public health consultants from other backgrounds, although participation in a management appraisal scheme is common. The formative and developmental aspects of professional appraisal may not form part of the management appraisal process. Yet this is important in the maintenance of professional competence.
We recommend that all public health specialists familiarise themselves with the expectations of professional appraisal. FPH will shortly be issuing more formal guidance on appraisal and will from next year be providing appraisal services. FPH’s full system pilot will include appraisal and if you would like an appraisal in 2011 you may wish to consider signing up for this trial. Please contact clarewenham@fph.org.uk. Currently, in some SHAs, Faculty Advisers or CPD coordinators have become regional leads for appraisal and may be able to offer advice or assistance. If there is no regional coordination available, it is feasible for a group of consultants to form their own appraisal group as an interim step, until appropriate independent systems are in place.
25/11/10 | Regulatory pathway for public health practitioners
Public health practitioners, working at operational level in the NHS, local government and third sector in a wide diversity of roles, are an indispensible part of the public health workforce. Many of them have no regulatory framework to ensure maintenance of high standards of practice and recognition of competence.
At its November 2010 meeting, the UKPHR Board reinstated its commitment to achievement of a coherent regulatory pathway for public health practitioners. To this end, it has already supported pilot local assessment schemes.
The Board has now agreed that preparatory work should commence immediately for the Register to open a regulatory pathway for practitioners in the spring of 2011
The new arm of the Register would open initially to those practitioners who have successfully completed a pilot local assessment scheme. Currently, such schemes are running in Wales, South Central, Kent and Medway and the West Midlands.
Further details on UKPHR’s planned development of practitioner registration will be available in the New Year.
10/10/10 | Business as usual
We are pleased to have received both the English White Paper: Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England and the report on the Review of the Regulation of Public Health Professionals.
The UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) is aware that some registrants,prospective applicants and employers may be concerned about the status of the UKPHR at this time of uncertainty created by the review.
The UKPHR is functioning as usual in its important role of providing public protection. It continues to accept new applications and to register both general and defined public health specialists who satisfyits rigorous entry criteria.
Although the UKPHR cannot predict the outcome from the consultation following the recent publication of the DH regulatory review, it continues to fulfill all its business as usual and to look ahead and plan strategically.
The UKPHR will be putting together a response over to the White Paper over the next few days which we will then circulate.
26/08/10 | Focus on Defined Specialists
People who register via the defined route are public health specialists who have chosen to specialise more highly in a narrower area of public health practice at some stage during their career. However in order to register, defined specialists are required to show evidence of knowledge across the full breadth of public health to the same standard as generalists. Defined specialists will then elect to demonstrate up to date competencies in some particular areas of practice at a higher level than that required to be demonstrated by generalists, usually reflecting their highly specialised professional experience in service or academic environments.
Although defined specialists have chosen this route to registration, it is important to recognise that UKPHR ensures that their level of registration is equal to that of generalists. Defined specialists are equally eligible to apply, and to be appointed to, public health consultant and director posts in the NHS, subject to the employer being satisfied that the applicant meets the requirements of the job specification, exactly as for any other post. Upon their registration with UKPHR, defined specialists are normally offered Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health.
Since there is as yet no formal training programme for defined specialists, portfolio assessment remains the only route to registration as a defined specialist.
14/12/09 | Public Health White Paper and Review of Regulation of Public Heath Professionals UKPHR Position Statement
UKPHR position statement on: Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England and Review of Regulation of Public Health Professionals.
We welcome the above publications on 30 November 2010, and the UKPHR Executive Committee has issued a position statement with its initial reactions which can be read here. A formal response will be sent from the UKPHR Board regarding the government consultation shortly