North Somerset Council
Public Health Specialty Registrar Training Prospectus
Overview
North Somerset Council is a unitary authority responsible for a population of approximately 230,000 people. Situated on the M5 corridor, it extends from the edge of Bristol and the River Avon in the north, to the River Axe and the Mendip Hills in the south. It has areas of beautiful countryside (including the Gordano Valley National Nature Reserve, and the Mendip Hills, a designated area of outstanding natural beauty), splendid coastal areas and distinctive towns and villages. The Council has a majority independent make-up, with the next election planned for 2023.
North Somerset has many district communities with 35 rural parishes and four towns: Weston-super-Mare (a large seaside resort which includes the famous Weston Grand Pier), Clevedon (a Victorian seaside town), Nailsea (a new town built around the original village), and Portishead (a seaside town with its own marina and views across the River Severn and the two Severn Bridges). It is also home to Bristol Airport, a substantial and expanding commercial concern, and the area is very well connected to the rest of the UK and beyond by road, rail, air and sea.
The training location presents an interesting challenge for prospective Public Health Registrars. Whilst, overall, most health and well-being measures for the area are better than average, there are substantial health inequalities with differences in life expectancy at birth of some ten years between those people living in the most affluent and the most deprived areas (which are predominantly in and around the area of Weston-super-Mare). North Somerset is also home to a higher proportion of people aged over 65 years than nationally (23.5% vs 17.9%) and an increasing prevalence of long-term conditions.
The Public Health team works closely with its counterparts in both Bristol and South Gloucestershire. North Somerset Council is part of the Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care System (ICS), and works alongside BNSSG Integrated Care Board (ICB), whose boundaries are congruent with the three local authorities. We also work closely with local academic partners at the University of the West of England, University of Bristol, and University Centre Weston.
More information on the characteristics of North Somerset can be found on the Council website here: https://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/council-democracy/statistics-data/north-somerset-area-profile-statistics
About the training location
The Public Health and Regulatory Services Directorate is led by Matt Lenny, Director of Public Health and Regulatory Services. A recent team restructuring process has created a new, enthusiastic cadre of Public Health Consultants who all bring recent experience of the public health training programme and oversee their own portfolios:
Georgie MacArthur: Georgie oversees the health improvement and health inequalities domain, and thereby has responsibility for key services for children and young people (including public health nursing contracts), mental health and wellbeing, and physical activity (including oversight of a number of in-house ‘health trainers’). Georgie also holds an academic post at the University of Bristol.
Sam Hayward: Sam is responsible for the healthcare public health and harm risk reduction functions of the team. This includes close working with partners on the ICS footprint, as well as leadership on drug and alcohol services, and smoking cessation support.
Andy Cross: Andy’s role combines health protection responsibilities with oversight of regulatory services work (including food and safety, environmental protection, private housing, and trading standards). Andy works closely with colleagues at UKHSA, and leads the team’s contributions to emergency planning through the LRF and other forum’s.
Matt and the three Consultants are supported by service leads and other public health specialists, who collectively form a team of approximately 40 staff.
Our vision and principles
The North Somerset Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-2024 sets out our vision, shared ambitions, principles, and the actions we will take over the next three years to improve health and wellbeing and to reduce health inequalities across North Somerset. The vision is for people to be enabled to optimise their health and wellbeing and to lead long, happy and productive lives in thriving communities, building on their strengths in a way that reduces inequalities in health.
Our vision will be achieved by:
- preventing health problems before they arise
- intervening early in relation to existing health problems
- supporting communities to be connected, healthy and resilient
Achieving our vision will improve health and wellbeing from the early years through to older age, providing opportunities to increase the number of people being supported and empowered to be healthy and well, enhancing the extent to which our local communities identify, own and implement tailored solutions to thrive, and, through targeted action, a narrowing of the gaps in health outcomes between groups.
Underpinning the work to achieve our vision are our principles, we:
- Develop strong and effective partnerships
- Tackle health inequalities
- Develop place-based approaches
- Take a life course approach
- Are informed by data, insight and ongoing learning
- Enable and empower communities
Training opportunities
Public health registrars at all stages of their training are welcome. Currently, the Director acts as the Specialty Tutor, with the Consultants as Educational Supervisors. Others in the team, provide clinical and project supervision.
There are considerable opportunities to work not just on the more traditional public health training topics, but with staff elsewhere in the Council, especially concerning environmental health, food safety, community safety, trading standards, children’s services and adult services. There are also opportunities to learn about Council governance systems and decision-making - which is crucial to the delivery of population-level health improvement interventions and the development and implementation of strategy.
We see public health registrars as important members of the Directorate Leadership Team as well as the wider team. We seek to provide a broad experience that will both meet educational requirements and be varied and enjoyable. We encourage registrars to share their learning experiences with the wider team, and there can be opportunities to do this more widely in the Council. We have good relationships with neighbouring councils and the NHS and are happy to support buddy arrangements and joint-learning opportunities.
What do Registrars think of North Somerset
“My first placement on the training scheme has been with NSC. I’m so glad to have been able to work in such a supportive team. I’ve had the opportunity to work on some really exciting public health projects with real impact, as well as working with a broad range of stakeholders including the voluntary sector and members of the public. I’ve really appreciated the guidance and support I’ve received from supervisors and team members to broaden my knowledge and develop my personal and professional skills. Whilst being well supported, I’ve also been given the space to pursue topics of interest, being able to shape my own workplan to meet learning outcomes and make the placement a really enjoyable experience.”
Charlotte Cadwallader, Phase 1 Registrar (ST2)
“North Somerset is an excellent training location. A public health registrar at North Somerset can expect to access a range of opportunities for learning, across the training curriculum, in a supportive environment. As a registrar, you are provided the (supervised) freedom to take responsibility for streams of work, and perform a valued role in the directorate’s leadership team. The post works best as a contrast to experiences in larger, city-based public health teams”.
Lewis Peake, Phase 2 Registrar (ST4)
Key contacts:
For further information, please contact:
Matt Lenny Director for Public Health (Tel: 07920 543 103)
Public Health and Regulatory Services Directorate
Castlewood
North Somerset Council Offices
Tickenham Road
Clevedon
BS21 6FW
This page was last updated February 2023