Ian Baddiley is Head of Health and Wellbeing at Halton Borough Council. He began his career as a physiotherapist, working clinically across the NHS, private sector, and sports settings. While he valued one-to-one patient care, he wanted to make a broader impact. A pivotal experience came when he helped set up an addiction treatment centre in Doha, Qatar, designing services to meet population health needs rather than providing individual care.
Since joining Halton Borough Council’s public health team in 2018, Ian has progressed to Head of Health and Wellbeing, overseeing a team of over 60 across a wide range of health improvement services. Along the way, he has been supported to complete a Master’s in Public Health, participate in council apprenticeships, and is currently pursuing a CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership.
The Champs Collaborative has played a key role in Ian’s development, particularly in supporting his progression through the specialist registration portfolio route. Through monthly portfolio network hubs, coaching sessions, and peer learning, Ian is currently navigating the complex requirements, gaining guidance from colleagues and assessors, and building the competencies needed for consultant-level public health practice.
Looking ahead, Ian is continuing the portfolio route to become a Public Health Consultant, building on his broad experience and the collaborative support of Connect, Learn, Thrive to continue making a real difference across the life course in Halton.
Read more about Ian’s story below.
What first attracted you to public health and how did you start your career in public health?
I started my career as a physiotherapist, working clinically for about 15 years across the NHS, private sector, and sports settings. Over time, I realised that the one-to-one patient relationship, while rewarding, wasn’t fully fulfilling for me, I wanted to do something broader, something more impactful.
I had the opportunity to work in Doha, Qatar, as part of a team setting up an addiction treatment centre. Some of my experience in chronic pain was relevant, but the role was less about seeing patients and more about designing a service that addressed population health needs around addiction. It involved thinking strategically about how to design a facility and services tailored to that community. I really loved that work.
I spent three years there, and when the centre opened, they wanted me to start seeing patients. By then, I knew I wanted to continue in a more high-level, project-based role rather than return to one-to-one clinical work.
When I came back to the UK, I joined Halton Borough Council’s health improvement team as a practice manager. Since then, I’ve progressed within the Public Health Directorate, and it has been incredibly fulfilling. Moving into public health has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
How has your journey in public health progressed since then?
I started working in Halton in 2018, so I’ve been there for about eight years now. I’ve progressed through several different roles and am now the Head of Health and Wellbeing. This role covers all of our health improvement services in Halton, which are delivered by an in-house team. We have a team of over 60 people working across the life course and across a wide range of public health services, and I sit above those teams.
What support have you had along the way from your employer and others along your journey?
I’ve been really lucky. Since being at Halton, I’ve had support to complete my Master’s in Public Health, which I finished in 2021. I’ve also been part of the council’s wider apprenticeship scheme and am now about to complete a CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Leadership. That’s been a fantastic opportunity and not necessarily something you’d be able to fund externally.
It’s been great to do that through work, and they’re now supporting me to work towards specialist registration by portfolio, with the aim that I’ll become a consultant in public health within the next two to three years.
How has the Champs Collaborative helped you to Connect, Learn, Thrive and progress your career?
The Champs Collaborative is great because there’s a lot of sharing, it really is a true network. You can always contact people across the other local authorities you meet through the Connect, Learn, Thrive events and Communities of Practice meetings. I’ve been part of several different steering groups, and they’ve always helped me to develop my local network and connect with others working in public health.
More laterally, there’s the specialist registration by portfolio network hub, which the Champs Support Team coordinates. The hub meets monthly, and that’s been really valuable because there are lots of people within the network progressing through the portfolio route at different stages. Being able to connect with others going through the same process is hugely helpful. The portfolio route is quite complex and can feel daunting, so having that space to connect and support each other is really important.
The Champs Collaborative and Connect, Learn, Thrive is great for that wider support, and within my own team there are also people working on different elements of portfolio activity, whether through apprenticeships or practitioner training. They’re also tapping into that wider Cheshire and Merseyside network.
The portfolio network hub also offers a coaching element, including coaching sessions and opportunities to talk about individual progress. Within the network hub, we also have spotlight sessions, where two people introduce different topics for discussion. These sessions give everyone the chance to contribute and ask questions. There’s been a real variety of input, including people from within the network talking about how they approach different competencies and the portfolio more generally, external speakers such as UKPHR assessors explaining what they look for in a portfolio, and people who’ve already been through the route. We’ve also had consultants who progressed through the portfolio route and now work within the network come in to share their experiences and insights. It’s been really valuable.
What is your biggest career achievement to date?
It’s really the breadth of what I’ve been involved in. Moving away from one-to-one, individual-level work with patients and clinicians, I wanted to do more and have a wider impact. Being able to move into a career that works across such a wide range of areas across the life course has been incredibly rewarding.
In particular, within Halton, that’s included our ageing well services, infant feeding services, and weight management services. Being part of that breadth of services, and the impact they have, has been my greatest achievement.
What’s next for you… do you have plans to progress your career further?
I’m finishing up the management qualification that’s been supported through Halton Borough Council. After that, I’ll be continuing along the portfolio route, which involves a significant amount of work, there’s a lot to compile, many competencies to evidence, and sometimes gaps to identify and then address across the different areas of public health you might want to work in or progress into.
There are lots of training and learning opportunities available through the Champs Collaborative and also through the different local authorities. I’d say it’s important to be open to opportunities, change, and working on different things. Don’t get too focused on one particular area. What’s really helped me is working across that breadth of subjects and services.
What advice would you give to others thinking of starting or progressing their career in Public Health?
There’s a wide range of work you can get involved in within public health, from population-level initiatives to more individual-focused services. This could include areas like marketing and communications, health protection, healthcare, or other public health specialties. There are always multiple pathways to explore. My advice to anyone considering a career in public health is that you have the flexibility to try different areas. You might find certain aspects more enjoyable than others, and you can focus on those to see the impact you can make.
Here in Halton, we have many health improvement services, so we witness changes at the individual level through the residents who engage with our programs. At the same time, our work contributes to broader population-level prevention goals, creating significant positive outcomes both for individuals and the community as a whole.
Case study: June 2026.
Ian has now moved into another role in the council and is continuing to use the learning during his years in public health to excel in his new career path.
