Case studies

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has worked with Alcohol Concern to support the most difficult, hard-to-reach drinkers.

Surrey County Council has set up a specialist outreach team to work with the most hardto-reach drinkers.

Gateshead Council commissions a dedicated substance misuse service for young people.

The London Borough of Hackney has started to run an employment support programme for people under going substance misuse treatment. The six-week programme offers everything from help writing CVs to confidence building sessions. It has had an immediate impact.

Knowsley Council’s substance misuse service has teamed up with the Liverpool Chest and Heart Hospital to offer testing and treatment for respiratory problems.

A complex cases team has been set up in Leeds to work with street beggars.

The transfer of responsibility for areas of public health in April 2013 from the NHS to local government is one of the most significant extensions of local government powers and duties in a generation. It represents a unique opportunity to change the focus from treating sickness to actively promoting health and wellbeing (the prevention agenda).

Men tend to have poorer health than women. In Leeds the public health team has sought to tackle this by getting a better understanding of men’s needs.

Key among this has been the adoption of a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach by the public health directorate, which aims to maximise how health and wellbeing interventions and outcomes are integrated across the council. 

Leicestershire County Council has been moving towards a social model of public health and away from a more traditional lifestyle behaviour change model. This has led to the involvement of public health in a number of services with a strong emphasis on community capacity building as the basis of prevention.