RSPH recently had its first Public Health Workforce Week, where we wanted to celebrate and raise awareness of all those who deliver public health, give voice to the challenges they face and listen to the solutions which would support and grow the workforce.

During the week we held a stakeholder policy seminar, a Twitter chat, spoke at the UKPHR conference and shared calls for insight and concerns from those working across public health.

What came across loud and clear is that the workforce is deeply committed to what they do - addressing health inequalities and delivering programmes which lead to a fair and prosperous society. They also care about the communities they serve. However, this is against a backdrop of a lack of recognition of the importance of public health, and all too often staff not having the headspace to plan in the long-term, come up with innovative solutions and secure funding. The public health workforce is in firefighting mode, trying to keep their heads above water, rather than having the space to think about what they need collectively and how to address the health challenges we face as a nation.

Three key areas were raised across the week:

A long-term strategy and collective workforce plan is needed to support and grow the public health workforce. These could have similarities with the NHS People Plan and should look to address the challenges of recruitment and retention which are widespread across the sector. They should also set out clearer paths for career development and address wellbeing and job satisfaction. This plan would need to set national guidance and direction of travel, whilst acknowledging the wealth of local knowledge and systems. To support the growth of the workforce, it is important to understand who the wide range of people delivering public health are and how many are working in this field, including those who may not think they are part of this workforce or those who have not followed a traditional career pathway into the sector. We know that our membership is diverse, and there are multiple ways of entering the workforce. This is something RSPH have worked on previously and intends to revisit.  

Prevention is the bedrock of public health, and this narrative has been lost in recent years. External pressures, including the lack of focus from Westminster and then the pandemic, have resulted in public health having to focus more on emergency solutions and less on the long game of prevention. You told us that there needs to be greater political support for the public health sector and for what it is trying to achieve. This includes supporting the workforce to plan and lead on the bread and butter of public health – helping communities to be healthy and prevent future illness and disease. We need a workforce which is empowered and has the skills to deliver on this approach, as well as a strengthened focus from the Government which must be convinced to see the long-term financial and health benefits of a preventative approach. Prevention has always been at the heart of our work across the RSPH, and we will ensure we strengthen this focus further.

Sustainable funding is key to public health and years of continuous cuts have had a negative impact on services. The workforce needs adequate and stable funding which allows them to deal with the real-world issues they face. Whilst there are countless examples of the public health workforce delivering cost-effective services – using community assets, piggy-backing with other programmes, co-production of services etc. – appropriate funding is needed to develop and deliver services which will have long-term impact.  Public health grants have been cut in real terms over the past ten years and many of you have voiced concerns that the current financial crisis means more money for public health is being syphoned off into crisis care. As well as a lack of resources for ‘everyday’ public health services, funding for new and innovative work is competitive and hard-won-by.  This puts the future health of the nation at increased risk and disincentives the workforce.  

What next? We’ve learnt a lot about the challenges the public health workforce face, alongside the solutions to address them. We will ensure RSPH continues to support the workforce by being their voice when influencing Government and stakeholders, through providing qualifications and training, and through being an evidence-led organisation which has inequalities and prevention as a central narrative.

RSPH’s 2022-2027 strategy has just been launched, which reflects this approach, and we will continue to listen and learn from you all. Thank you to all who engaged with us during our first Public Health Workforce Week.