Consultant in Public Health

Job description

Job responsibilities

The post holder will contribute to achieving the priorities of Sefton Council and the vision for 2030, building on the wider vision for system change. Imagine Sefton 2030 will engage the public, local businesses and potential investors in creating a vision that will collectively promote shared prosperity, coordinated public investment, and a healthy environment and population. As a senior leader in the public health team and across the council the post holder will help make the vision a reality, adding value and strengthening the health and wellbeing outcomes.

The post holder will support the local authority to take all steps necessary to improve and protect the health of its population. This includes supporting action to protect residents of Sefton from immediate and future threats to their health, and seeking assurances that all relevant organisations in the area have appropriate plans in place to protect the health of the population and that all necessary action is being taken.

Key portfolio areas will include health protection, screening and immunisations, and infection prevention and control. The postholder will give advice to a range of settings, planning surveillance, and response to incidents and outbreaks. The post holder will also lead programmes of health care public health, health improvement and prevention interventions, including tobacco control, NHS Health Checks, oral health and childrens health and wellbeing.

Strategic Duties and Responsibilities

Support the Director of Public Health (DPH) in their role reporting to and supporting the work of relevant Council committees and governance bodies, including Health & Wellbeing Board, , Health Protection Forum and Place and Partnership Committees within the Integrated Care System.

Ensure development and maintenance of systems and processes to enable the local authority to work with partners to respond to major incidents including health protection threats. On behalf of the DPH, to lead on those aspects that the Secretary of State delegates to the authority. Ensure that partner organisations (UKHSA, ICB and NHS) have appropriate mechanisms, to enable surge capacity to be delivered as and when required

On behalf of the authority to take responsibility for ensuring delivery of the public health mandated services such that the full range of benefits are delivered to residents of the local authority. This will include taking responsibility for the relevant outcome indicators within the Public Health, NHS, and Social Care Outcome frameworks and working across organisational boundaries.

To lead health protection work across all Council directorates as well as influencing partnership boards dealing with environmental hazards, and climate change, to maximise health improvement opportunities and the reduction of inequalities in health outcomes amongst residents.

Lead the delivery of the health protection programmes, including for example, responsibilities relating to acute respiratory infections, Tuberculosis, blood borne viruses, extreme weather planning and pandemic disease planning, and maintaining oversight of nationally commissioned health protection programmes, including childhood and adult immunisation programmes, cancer and non-cancer screening programmes

Provide strategic leadership around health protection and community infection prevention and control.

Provide strategic leadership around health care public health and health improvement (including NHS Health Checks, oral health and tobacco control).

Strategic objectives

To support the Councils Senior Management and to assist the Chief Executive working with Elected Members and senior officers to realise the Councils objectives, priorities and values.

To deputise for the Director of Public Health and represent the Council ensuring that the reputation of the Council is effectively managed.

To support change management and promote clear, effective and transparent communication at all levels, both in and out of the Council.

To work across the entire Council, NHS bodies (the Council has a statutory duty to provide public health advice to ICSs and the Councils Health and Wellbeing Board has a coordinating role for the whole of the health and care system) and other partner agencies. It will also involve influencing private sector, voluntary sector and community sector organisations that can impact on health and influencing the attitudes and behaviour both of professionals and of the population generally.

To be an effective advocate for improving health and tackling health inequalities

Person Specification

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Able to influence senior members including directors and CEOs
• Able to both lead teams and to able to contribute effectively in teams led by junior colleagues
• Commitment to work within a political system irrespective of personal political affiliations

Qualifications

Essential

• The National Health Service (Appointment of Consultants) Regulations 1996 (legislation.gov.uk)
• In line with legislation, inclusion in the GMC Full and Specialist Register with a license to practice/GDC Specialist List or inclusion in the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) for Public Health Specialists at the point of application.
• If included in the GMC Specialist Register/GDC Specialist List in a specialty other than public health medicine/dental public health, candidates must have equivalent training and/or appropriate experience of public health practice
• Any public health speciality registrar applicants who are currently on the UK public health training programme and not yet on either the GMC, GDC or UKPHR specialist register must provide verifiable signed documentary evidence that they are within 6 months of gaining entry to a register at the date of interview*
• If an applicant is UK trained in Public Health, they must ALSO be a holder of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), or be within six months of award of CCT by date of interview. If an applicant is non-UK trained, they will be required to show evidence of equivalence to the UK CCT [see shortlisting notes below)
• Applicants must meet minimum CPD requirements (i.e. be up to date) in accordance with Faculty of Public Health requirements or other recognised body
• MFPH by examination, by exemption or by assessment, or equivalent

Desirable

• Masters in Public Health or equivalent

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• Strategic thinker with proven leadership skills and operational nous
• Able to demonstrate and motivate organisations to contribute to improving the publics health and wellbeing through mainstream activities and within resources
• Ability to lead and manage the response successfully in unplanned and unforeseen circumstances
• Analytical skills able to utilize both qualitative (including health economics) and quantitative information
• Ability to design, develop, interpret and implement strategies and policies
• In-depth understanding of health and care system and relationships with both local & national government
• In depth knowledge of methods of developing clinical quality assurance, quality improvement, evaluations and evidence based public health practice
• Strong and demonstrable understanding of interfaces between health, social care and key partners (dealing with wider determinants of health)
• Understanding of the public sector duty and the inequality duty and their application to public health practice
• *Applicants going through the portfolio registration routes (GMC or UKPHR) are not eligible to be shortlisted for interview until they are included on the register. The six-month rule does not apply to these portfolio route applicants.

Experience

Essential

• Delivery of successful change management programmes across organizational boundaries
• Experience of using complex information to explain public health issues to a range of audiences

Desirable

• Media experience demonstrating delivery of effective health behaviour or health promotion messages

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Sefton Council

Address

2nd floor, Magdalen House

30 Trinity Road

Bootle

Merseyside

L20 3NJ

Employer's website

https://www.sefton.gov.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)