It is a critical time for the health of the UK. We have witnessed and experienced a global pandemic, inflation and rising costs mean that many are struggling to pay for essentials, meanwhile we are seeing inequalities continue to worsen. We know that communities and individuals are struggling to ensure that they live healthy and happy lives. We do not know what the long-term impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis will be, but we do know that there has never been a more important time for the public’s health. Having started our time together at RSPH as Chief Executive and Chair we can see the potentially crucial role that RSPH could play in developing a strong, prosperous and fair society.

Looking back to the inception of RSPH we can see parallels, and this has given us pause to think about the role of RSPH and what we uniquely can offer. With this in mind we have launched our new strategy. Our strategy offers a clear vision for the next 5 years for all members of the population to have better health and lead healthier lives for longer and reaffirms our mission to: Provide voice and vision to the wider public health workforce and beyond to support healthier lives.

At the heart of our strategy are three key areas of focus

1. Using our voice to speak on behalf of our members, the wider public health workforce, the public and from an independent position. Our independence matters and we need to be clear about the funding we receive and the partnerships we enter and how this may affect the perception and reality of our independence if we are to truly be the convenor. No other organisation has this position or can fulfil this role.
2. Integrating our service offer to ensure it supports the wider public health work force to develop and grow. We know that we have a great set of services, we want to ensure that these are coherent and joined up.  In simple terms this mean that all our service delivery work will be able to demonstrate that it can:

• tackle inequalities because they matter to individuals and wider societal and economic outcomes.
• develop the public health workforce through upskilling and empowering: or
• makes public health everyone’s responsibility.

3. RSPH will be a great place to work that is well run with:
   • Strong financial balance
   • Good governance
   • Modern approaches to working for our staff.

Our strategy is exciting and sets us on a new path to tackle the challenges we face over the coming decade. We look forward to working with, members, partners, governments and business to ensure that we give all members of the population the opportunity to have better health and lead healthier lives for longer by providing voice and vision to the wider public health workforce and beyond to support healthier lives.