JIGSAWNEWS

Public Health Information for EHPs

February 2014

E-Learning Portal Launched in Hertfordshire

The Hertfordshire Public Health e-Learning Portal has been launched to give public health professionals in the county access to library books, e-books and on-line resources. Access is open for members of the Hertfordshire Library Service or anyone with an Athens account. Its hoped that local authority staff including EHPs, Planning and Housing Ofcers will take advantage of the reference material offered by the portal which is the idea of Director of Public Health Jim McManus. Details of the resources available can be found at www.hertsdirect.org/phelearn The site also contains full details of how to obtain an Athens account.

Happy New Year! The arrival of a new year is always the time to take stock of where weve been and look forward to where were going. For Public Health its been 8 months of change with Local Authorities beginning to adapt to their new responsibilities as Health & Wellbeing Boards start to nd their way. At a national level Public Health England have been trying to turn the tide away from politicians obsession with the NHS and more to the point throwing money at it in an attempt to cut waiting lists. Watching the news closely I certainly get the opinion that the message is beginning to get across that funds invested in the wider determinants of health can produce considerable savings at the other end. Unfortunately though whilst that train of thought is being accepted in one part of government another part is continuing with savage cuts on budgets which have my former colleagues in environmental health struggling to fulll even their statutory obligations. The hope for 2014 is that with budgets stretched to breaking point chief ofcers will evaluate what works in terms of public health and concentrate resources in areas that really make a difference. It has always seemed strange to me that EHPs throughout the country are still enforcing some legislation that has its roots in the 1848 Public Health Act. Im sure the Victorians would be proud their work lasted so long but being great innovators as they were I think they would also be amazed that we are trying to use 19th century solutions to solve 21st century problems. Here at Jigsaw we hope to keep pushing the boundaries and helping our colleagues keep in touch with the latest developments through the newsletter and our social media channels. 2013 was certainly a year of discovery for us working with some great people and hopefully 2014 will bring more of the same!

Jigsaw Links
New Documents: British Academy If You Could Do One Thing Department of Health Psychological Wellbeing & Work Closing the Gap: Priorities for essential change in mental health NICE Behaviour Change Individual Approaches National Obesity Forum The State of the Nations Wasteline WHO Health Inequalities in the EU Public Health England Children & Young Peoples Health Outcomes Framework Centre for Health & Public Interest Getting Behind the Curve - is the new NHS Ready for Pandemic Flu

See what everyone is talking about

Join us on the Jigsaw Public Health Forum
at www.RHEnvironmental.co.uk

Pete

The Back Page

Ask StanleyStats
Want some statistics? Let the Jigsaw Furby tell you all about it. You can e-mail him: stanleystats1@gmail.com Or follow on Twitter @ stanley stats1

JIGSAW NEWS
Editing and Design: Pete Hill & Sarah James Jigsaw Northern Ireland Anthony McCloskey JigsawNews is an independent

Hello to our new followers:

Stanley Says:
The average person in the UK consumes 12 teaspoons of sugar a day with some adults consuming as many as 46. Worldwide we are taking in 500 extra calories a day from sugar. A can of cola contains 9 teaspoons of sugar. Some tins of tomato soup and bottles of avoured water can contain as many as 4 teaspoons of sugar as an ingredient. Nearly two thirds of the population of the UK are overweight.
Walsall EnvHealth @EHWalsall Go4Green - PPP @Go4GreenShop Clean Air London @CleanAirLondon Dr Amelia A Lake @Lakenutrition Nutrition Society @NutritionSoc Faiths Forum London @LondonFaiths SCLT @scltuk

production all views expressed are solely those of the editorial team and do not represent those of any other organisation.

Did You Know:

January 24th 2014 marked the 214th anniversary of the birth of Sir Edwin Chadwick.

The Time is Now Social Media Training Contact Us for more details

Contact Us: JigsawPSPH@gmail.c om @JigsawPSPH 07917704429

JigsawPSPH now working with

Delivering quality services to a wide range of businesses and Public Sector bodies since 1999 http://www.rhenvironmental.co.uk

Did You Know: Last winter there were 31,000 excess deaths.

Jigsaw News is Prote cted by a Creative Commons Lic ense any distribution for comme rcial gain without permission is prohibited.

Im a Public Health Professional Get Me out of Here! http://jigsawpsph.podomatic.com JigsawPSPHs weekly Podcast Featured on UK Health Radio Download from the iTunes Store

Alberts Square

Coopers Corner
You can lead a horse to water, but teach him to lie on his back and oat and youve got something!