Mel took up her first public health appointment in Oldham, working on regeneration programmes and tackling health inequalities. When appointed as Director of Public Health and Health Strategy for NHS Tameside and Glossop and Tameside MBC in 2007 her role encompassed setting up a commissioning strategy and delivery function that was fully integrated with public health. In 2009 she widened her portfolio taking up Deputy Chief Executive responsibilities and oversight of the medical and clinical standards directorate.
In 2010 Melanie joined Salford as Director of Public Health and Infection Control leading the development of public health, wellbeing and integrated commissioning hub as a key part of Salford’s public sector reform programme to tackle family poverty and improve life chances.
In November 2013 she joined Public Health England as the Centre Director for Cheshire and Merseyside where she developed the role of the Centre and worked collaboratively with local Directors of Public Health and wider leaders of public health to make improvements for health and wellbeing. In 2015 she was appointed as Centre Director for PHE North West – bringing together the three former centres of Cheshire and Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria and Lancashire.
Professionally, Melanie is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and also an Honorary Professor in Health Sciences with Salford University.
There’s a wonderfully simple but startling timeline on the British Library website – a potted history of the campaign for better public health in Britain which is rather sensationally, but fittingly, entitled “Filth and Fever”. The surprise is the shortness …
Embracing the future is second nature in the North West and Greater Manchester in particular is no stranger to innovation and change – as long ago as the 1600s residents were adopting vegetarianism and their own way of doing things. …
