This means that we're now responsible for making sure there are a wide range of services available to help people in Derbyshire to stay healthy. We do this by commissioning, or buying in, certain services from other organisations. Examples of this include our sexual health service.
Public health places a great deal of importance on partnership working between councils, health professionals and other organisations to look at the health of people in Derbyshire.
Being healthy is not just about tackling illness. It looks at wider factors that affect your quality of life and general wellbeing. This includes things like education, income, housing and employment, as well as lifestyle issues like smoking, alcohol and exercise.
Public health has several main areas of work:
- your health - through supporting lifestyle change, and working with communities to tackle the issues that cause health inequalities
- health protection - managing infectious disease, environmental health hazards and health emergencies, plus vaccination and screening programmes
- NHS support - using evidence and patient experience to ensure the effectiveness of treatment and care
- public health knowledge - using health data and information to monitor progress in improving and protecting health, and ensuring effective health services
Our priorities for Derbyshire are to:
- improve health and wellbeing in early years – so that every child is fit to learn and reach the highest levels of literacy
- reduce level of harmful alcohol consumption, obesity and smoking
- improve management of long-term conditions
- improve mental health and wellbeing
- improve the health and wellbeing of older people and promote independence into old age
Lifestyle and wellbeing services
We're responsible for making sure a wide range of services are available to help you achieve the healthiest lifestyle for you and your family. This includes drug and alcohol support services, sexual health, weight management, mental health and wellbeing, and more.
Find out more about the services we are responsible for your health.
Making health fairer
Public health has an important role to play in tackling health inequalities in Derbyshire. There are big differences in life expectancy across Derbyshire. Between some areas there's as much as 7 years difference and this gap increases to 14 years difference in life expectancy. We're committed to using our public health resources to reduce this gap. Find out more about the work we're doing to make health fairer.
Health and Wellbeing Board
The Derbyshire Health and Wellbeing Board sets priorities to improve health and wellbeing in Derbyshire and to make sure services provided by local NHS services, ourselves and other healthcare providers work effectively together.
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) reports on the health and wellbeing needs of people in Derbyshire. It brings together data on local needs and looks ahead at emerging challenges in the future. This information then guides the planning and commissioning of health and wellbeing services within Derbyshire.
Director of Public Health annual reports
Each year the director of public health produces a report into the health of Derbyshire.
Making Every Contact Count
We're committed to making sure we take every opportunity to help people improve their health and wellbeing.
Find out more about our involvement in Making Every Contact Count.