Having started my career as a trainee accountant at South Tyneside Council nearly 25 years ago and returned after a time elsewhere in the public sector to have a stint as Head of Finance, local government still feels like my …
In our first year since April 2013, the London Health Commission has been a pivotal programme of work. As PHE’s London Regional Director, I chair one of the Commission’s four groups. My group is looking at improving health and reducing …
Yesterday, NICE published public health guidance on contraceptive services for young people, which will be a valuable new resource for local teams looking to deliver tailored sexual health services at convenient locations for under 25s, which provide easy access to …
The past few weeks have seen PHE involved in some exciting initiatives with other employers who share our commitment to taking good care of the physical health and mental wellbeing of their staff. There is a real groundswell of energy …
I’m walking through an English woodland. The bluebells are beginning to flower and the cuckoos are calling. It really is a great time to be outdoors. Many of the overwintering insects are stirring and the air is filled with the …
At end of February nurses and midwives from both PHE and the Department of Health ran a week of action linked to NHS Change Day, focusing on health protection and building resilience. We focused on the public health challenges of …
Over the past 70 years antibiotics have been hugely important in our defence against infectious diseases caused by bacteria. However, bacterial resistance to antibiotics is becoming a global public health problem and if we are to develop new treatments for …
We have had some fantastic news recently. More children have been vaccinated against measles and the number of measles infections has reduced. This means that we are getting back on track towards eliminating the disease. Measles has been relatively rare …
The proportion of HIV-positive diagnosed women passing (transmitting) their infection to their babies in the UK is now at its lowest ever level, having dropped four-fold in 10 years. In 2000-2001 the percentage of women diagnosed with HIV who transferred the …
Syndromic surveillance is an innovative way of collecting and analysing health surveillance data and is becoming an increasingly popular way of monitoring public health across the world. Syndromic surveillance complements existing programmes, which are usually based upon traditional laboratory reporting, …
