JIGSAW

December 2015

News

HERTFORDSHIRE PUBLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE 2015

The third annual Hertfordshire Public Health
Conference attracted delegates from a wide range of
disciplines. The prevention agenda was the major
theme for the day with keynote presentations from
Professor Dawn Skelton on Ageing & Health along
with behaviour change expert Professor Paul Bennett
from Swansea University. The event proved the most
diverse so far with workshops on the environment,
mental health and young people. Congratulations to
Herts Health Walks who won the inaugural Joan
Crawley Award for Excellence in Public Health. The
conference was covered on social media by
JigsawPSPH with over 300 twitter messages recorded.
You can relive the day with our Storify board at
http://bit.ly/1XS13lZ

Dear Santa.....
Looking back on the past 12 months its become even more
obvious that these are worrying times for Public Health.
The autumn spending review confirmed that despite the
best efforts of a host of experts the chancellor has
little idea of how anything outside the NHS works. More
budget cuts to local government are a clear example,
leaving hard pressed councillors and officers to decide
what they can afford to keep. Services such as
Environmental Health, Housing and Trading Standards are
in the firing line removing another safety net that aims
to take the pressure off the NHS. One of the problems is
any public health intervention takes time to show its
benefits and in a rush to remove the deficit Westminster
doesnt appear to have the time to wait. Another issue
is identifying all those services that play a part in
prevention. Public Health England recently released a
report on the role of Allied Health Professionals in
Public Health which rightly pointed out the contribution
made by physiotherapists, dietitians, radiographers and
9 other disciplines associated with the NHS. Taking a
lead from that, isnt it time that a similar document
was produced to highlight the contribution made to
public health by large parts of local government. In my
experience unfortunately even people working in areas
that have a direct impact on health dont see themselves
as public health professionals. The longer that
situation continues the more remote those services will
become. Its certainly not a one way street with big cuts
to the budget on the way Public Health departments
surely have a vested interest in reaching out to their
colleagues to provide strength in numbers if nothing
else. Lets make 2016 the year that the Public Health
Family really does come together.

JIGSAW LINKS
Marmot Indicators 2015
Monitoring Poverty & Social
Exclusion
The District Council
Contribution to Public
Health
Growing Healthy Communities
Cold Weather Plan For
England
Air Quality in Europe 2015

THE BACK PAGE

Happy Christmas
& A Prosperous and Healthy New Year
from all At JigsawPSPH
Thanks for your support in 2015

Ask Stanley Stats

Stanley Says....... The average Christmas

dinner contains 7,000 calories, 48g of fat
and 8.87g of salt. On Christmas Day most
people reach their recommended daily
allowances before the Queens speech comes on
the TV. Most people consume double their
recommended calorie intake in the week
between Christmas & New Year. Researchers
warn that over 700,000 people will still
drive when they are over the safe alcohol
limit this Christmas. 600 million units of
alcohol are consumed in the UK during the
month of December alone.

Holding an Event?
Want it Covered on Social
Media?
Why not Contact Us
JigsawPSPH@gmail.com

Contact Us:

Well do everything from

establishing a # to providing
full coverage on the day.

JigsawPSPH@gmail.c
om
@JigsawPSPH

My Twitter feed is full of

informative #HertsPHC15
tweets. It's almost like I'm
there!
Jigsaw Social Media Getting
Your Message Across

@agtomlinson

JIGSAW NEWS

EHPs are full-time

public health
professionals, more so
than AHPs. Trouble is,
too often we forget
that, so others don't
realise

07917704429

JigsawPSPH is delighted to
be working with the National
Health Psychology In Public
Health Network in 2016

Editing & Design: Pete Hill

Inspiration: Sarah James
JigsawNews is an independent production all
views expressed are solely those of the
editorial team and do not represent those of
any other organisation.

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I was at a
Christmas
party the
other night
with so many
famous people,
Im the only
one I hadnt
heard of!