The public health team at Redbridge Council used the Standards as part of their re-structure process and in managing staff performance. The team also have plans to embed the Standards across the council more widely.
Highlights of progress
As part of the re-structure of the public health team at Redbridge Council, the team set out to revise job descriptions and person specifications. The Standards were used alongside the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF) to guide this work and ensure appropriate competencies and expectations are included in these documents.
The revised job descriptions and person specifications helped explain and communicate the professional expertise of public health staff within the council. Framing this within the professional Standards also helped demonstrate the importance of the right professional expertise for the delivery of public health outcomes and the value that brings.
The public health team also used the Standards to support various HR processes. For example, they were used as a guide for setting performance objectives for individual staff members and appraisals. The Standards were also included in inductions for public health staff so that all new staff were familiar with them.
Additionally, the Standards were used during reflective sessions and consulted on different requirements with regards to public health workforce.
Future plans
The team plans to continue with embedding the Standards across the council and hopes to include them in all inductions for new staff across different teams and departments. They are also hoping to include them within a wider workforce strategy to achieve a more collaborative workforce and delivery.
Lessons and key messages
Using the Standards has provided a framework to work with and helped communicate the importance and value of professional expertise in public health within the wider council. The Standards helped highlight skills that public health staff bring, such as evidence-based work. They also helped frame the requirements in terms of suitably qualified and supported public health workforce with regards to broader accountability for safe and effective delivery of public health outcomes.
The team would want to see the Standards promoted more widely through the local government HR network and for them to be used by local authorities more generally rather than be limited to public health teams.