Public Health Workforce Week 2023
RSPH is hosting the second annual Public Health Workforce Week from 2 October to 6 October 2023.
Public Health Workforce Week celebrates the contribution of the entire public health workforce. Despite facing unparalleled challenges, members of the public health workforce, who range from addiction support officers, cleaning and hygiene operatives, and food safety trainers to community health champions and school nurses, have continued to deliver. We want to highlight the amazing and impactful work being done and to hear from you about the challenges and solutions that you see as people working across public health.
We want everyone involved in public health to use this week to highlight the range of services the workforce delivers, the impact they have, and the challenges they face.
This year we are celebrating the whole workforce but are focussing on the wider public health workforce who we define as “Any individual who is not a specialist or practitioner in public health but has the opportunity or ability to positively impact health and wellbeing through their work.”
Why is Public Health Workforce Week important?
We want to celebrate and raise awareness of the crucial work of the whole public health workforce, their incredible achievements, and tireless contribution to public health and wellbeing. Through challenging circumstances, the public health workforce continues to deliver over and above.
We also know that the public health workforce continue to face many challenges. Resources are over-stretched, and this is impacting on their wellbeing and ability to deliver services. The public health system was under extreme pressure post-pandemic and has faced additional stress due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. In addition, there are barriers around training, career progression and retention amongst the workforce.
The public health workforce understands the communities they work with and the health inequalities those communities face. They also have an in-depth knowledge of what they need as a workforce to ensure they are supported and can develop and deliver a range of effective public health services. We want to use this week to highlight the work that the public health workforce does in prevention and tackling health inequalities.
82%
of the public think that the public health workforce is crucial to safeguarding the nation’s health
85%
of the public think there must be sufficient funding for public health workers so they are not burnt out
72%
of the public think that a long-term workforce plan is needed for those working in public health
Promoting your work through the week
You can use this week to celebrate the work of the public health workforce you work with or represent and highlight any of the challenges they face and where there are policy and practice solutions. For hashtags and social media assets please see the Social Media section at the end of the page
If you’re part of the workforce we’d encourage you to talk about what you do, what support you might need to deliver your services, and any examples of impactful practice.
How can you get involved?
Throughout 2023, RSPH has been carrying out engagement to gather insight and evidence from the public health sector - including through hearing directly from the wider workforce, working with stakeholders and existing professional groups to:
- Gather evidence and stories from the wider workforce– with a focus on the diversity and impact of the work they do and training/career development
- Raise awareness of who the wider public health workforce is and their valuable contribution to the health of the nation.
- Develop and launch a comprehensive education pathway for the wider workforce, supporting people into public health careers, and providing clarity on career progression.
One part of our engagement work includes a survey for all members of the wider public health workforce, which closes at midnight on 8 October 2023. We’d love to hear from you if you’re part of the wider public health workforce through this survey.
Public health workforce week on social media
Public health workforce week on social media:
We’ve made a downloadable social media pack to support you post about Public Health Workforce Week.
During Public Health Workforce Week, we will be using #PublicHealthWorkforceWeek and #PublicHealthWorkforce as our key hashtags. Visit back for more info and downloadable social media assets to share on your own social media channels.