On 18th June, Directors of Public Health met for a strategic session. The aims of the session were to strengthen joint working as a Champs DsPH team, review priorities and lead roles, and consider how to re-energise and support public health teams going forward.
Having been at the forefront of the local public health response to COVID-19 along with their teams, Directors reflected on a very difficult year and commented that colleagues and partners had worked extremely hard on protecting the population. They also talked about the advantages of working together across Cheshire and Merseyside, as it has enabled maximising system and scale to ensure a more effective response and speaking with one unified voice. DsPH also valued the mutual support and learning from each other.
Workforce development was a key topic and the importance of succession planning and developing people to become future public health leaders.
Lead roles for the Collaborative were also reviewed with Directors of Public Health and deputies taking on new areas of work. They are currently being finalised and will be published in due course.
Key actions from the session include refinements to the Collaborative priorities, a detailed session on the local Integrated Care System developments, shared approaches to Joint Strategic Needs Assessments with analysts, exploring further public health workforce development and CPD opportunities, a Cheshire and Merseyside event to share local and collaborative good practice on COVID-19, and exploring the potential for building organisational wellbeing and resilience across the public health system.
Directors of Public Health are also keen for everyone working in their teams take their annual leave over the summer without phones and laptops to ensure they have a break.