Public Health Partnership Fund

In two tier local government areas, public health work (including health protection, health improvement and work to support the wider determinants of health) is split between the county council and the districts/borough councils.  

Hertfordshire County Council is responsible for public health services across the whole of Hertfordshire, and has undertaken a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) to determine the public health priorities at a county and borough level. Districts and borough councils are well-placed to determine local public health needs, and ensure specific targeting of these needs, so we were invited to collaborate on the delivery of the Hertfordshire Public Health Strategy.  

HCC public health is now delegated responsibility to the Hertfordshire district/borough councils for the delivery of various public health services that target the needs of the population as identified in the JSNA, local health profiles and Public Health Strategy. This is known as the Public Health Partnership Fund. It includes ring-fenced funding for specific public health work, and a memorandum of understanding between the two local authorities governs and binds them to the delivery of public health outcomes.  

The partnership also contains an element of funded consultancy time from the public health team at Hertfordshire County Council. The partnership describes the shared funding, ambition and mission to improve the health and well-being, and to reduce the health inequalities for the population within each district/borough.   

The challenge

• Taking on a new concept and way of working in the Environmental Health team - having the opportunity to expand the public health remit within Welwyn Hatfield has been exciting and extremely worthwhile and will continue to be an integral way of working.  
• Working with nine other district/borough councils and HCC in the partnership.  
• Familiarisation with the new health organisations and structures and how the council fits into these structures.
• To become more evidence based and proactive in our projects rather than reactive. 
• Change the way of working by raising awareness of the roles of other agencies to ensure a holistic and pragmatic approach, and use the new language of public health within Environmental Health.  
• Acquiring the knowledge and obtaining training to; use health profiles, accredited methods of evaluation, the JSNA, commissioning and bid writing.

The solution

• A formal training course in health behaviour change was completed by all staff involved in the public health work of the team.
• Writing, consulting and publishing the first Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the borough. The third version is now about to be drafted.
• Setting up the Public Health Officers Interest Group as a way of bringing together key staff from across the whole council who provide services that have an impact on the wider determinants of health. This is very much in line with the ‘#Oneteam’ approach.  
• Working closely with our lead member for health who acts as our ambassador across the council and externally.  • Identification of health priorities and interventions specific to the borough.
• Working with other agencies and forming working relationships that haven’t previously existed.  
• Taking on the “Make Every Contact Count” • Managing the new projects and looking for further sources of funding. 

The impact

• We have been able to use our existing knowledge and powers in an enhanced approach to consider the wider determinants of health in the delivery of our work. This approach has enabled us to share information from one aspect of our work to other areas, therefore making the most of the tools, funding and partners that we work with.
• The “district offer” has been a launch pad for the council to recognise how our functions and services directly impact on the wider determinants of health, and was the impetus for developing our first Health and Wellbeing Strategy. By utilising resources and expertise at HCC, including public health profiles and the JSNA, we have been able to access more detailed information about our population in Welwyn Hatfield.  
• Through the district offer, we have been able to take stock and look at what services we already deliver and view them from a different perspective; this provides us with the opportunity to explore the funding and delivery of new projects.  
• Via our Public Health Officer Interest Group, we share knowledge and intelligence across departments to enhance and improve our impacts on public health through existing council services.  

An example of some of the projects and initiatives include:

• Air quality
• HealthFest
• Welwyn Hatfield Hoarding Partnership  
• Shape Up and exercise referral
• Dementia – becoming a dementia friendly organisation.

Further details can be provided on all of the above projects.   

How is the approach being sustained?

• Looking for alternative sources of funding.
• Finding ways for initiatives to be taken on by volunteers and self-supporting groups.   

Lessons learned

• The importance of top down support and priority setting.
• For public health to be genuinely embraced, it should be at the core of our policies and vision.
• Training those responsible for service planning so public health is a key part of that.  
• Better communication between teams.  
• We  have improved our methods of evaluation to ensure we are recording what works well, and where improvements can be made to make best use of our resources.