Public Health Dorset
Public Health sits in the newly formed fifth directorate Public Health and Prevention in Dorset Council.
Between 1st April 2013 and the end of March 2025 Public Health services for the whole of Dorset were provided by Public Health Dorset. The team was disaggregated and two new teams formed, one for the Dorset Council area and one for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council area on 1st April 2025. Both teams continue to work closely together.
Dorset Council (and BCP Council) were formed in 2019 during a reorganisation of local government which brought together the previous district, borough and county councils into two new unitary authorities.
If you train in Dorset you’ll have the chance to work on interesting projects to make a real difference to improving the health of people across a wide range of communities.
Dorset is a fantastic place to live, work and study with miles of world-renowned coastline, beautiful countryside and excellent facilities in towns and villages across the county.
About the area
The county of Dorset sits on the south coast of England, bordering Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. The county has a population of over 775,000, with almost 380,000 people in the Dorset Council area.
Across the Dorset Council area there is a higher proportion of residents aged 65+ when compared to national figures, which contributes to high demand on health and care services. There is also a smaller proportion of the population that don’t identify as White British than nationally (around 6% compared to around 25% nationally in the 2021 census).
In the Dorset Council area life expectancy from birth is better than the national average for both males and females.
The county ranges across a wide variety of locations from the Jurassic coast to rural villages to towns such as Dorchester and Weymouth. On average, Dorset Council area has lower levels of deprivation, but there is a wide range in levels of deprivation throughout the area. Some parts of the local authority have the highest and lowest levels of deprivation in the country.
Find out more about the Dorset Council area.
Key public health challenges in the area
- Hospital admissions caused by unintentional and deliberate injuries in children and young people (0-24)are higher than national figures.
- Due to the older population within the area care must be taken when looking at many age-related conditions. Whilst we may perform better than nationally in many indicators related to aging, the age demographic of the population means public health interventions have a key role to play in reducing pressure on health and care services.
- Whilst not worse than national rates overall, levels of obesity in early pregnancy are higher than seen nationally. Promoting healthier lifestyles is a key part of our work, with our LiveWell Dorset service providing direct support to residents who want to make lifestyle changes to improve their health.
Further comparative indicators can be found in the Public Health Outcomes Framework Public Health Outcomes Framework - at a glance summary
Our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment narratives explain more about the health and wellbeing issues faced by our communities.
Our team
Our work spans four main areas: health improvement, health protection, healthcare public health and healthy places. Our approach is evidence-based to make sure we are focusing on the areas where we can make the biggest difference in reducing health inequalities.
The Director of Public Health is supported by a team consisting of a Deputy Director, consultants, heads of programmes, health programme advisors and communications and business support officers. The newly formed Directorate “Public Health and Prevention” also includes regulatory services such as environmental health.
We commission a range of public health services as well as running an in-house behaviour change service called LiveWell Dorset which provides direct support to residents wanting to make healthy lifestyle changes.
Partnership working
Much of our work relies on our excellent relationships with our partners and we are at the heart of the development of the new Integrated Care System for Dorset.
To achieve our aims, we work closely with services across both councils in Dorset, NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board and the NHS provider trusts in Dorset, as well as wider public sector and voluntary and community sector partners and regional leads from UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and OHID.
There are two hospital trusts within the area - Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust – as well as Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust which provides community and mental health services.
Public Health Dorset as a training location
Public Health Dorset was a well-established and highly regarded training location for Public Health. We hope to continue to be an excellent training location now that we have become two teams.
We have four members of the senior team who are experienced Educational Supervisors who can support you through your time with us and a number of colleagues who are Activity supervisors. We are not currently taking new placements as the two new teams become established.
We are a team who actively promote training, learning and development in Public Health. Previously the team has also supported GP fellows, NHS management trainees and Public Health practitioners.
Location
We use a hybrid working model, meaning most of our team split their time between home and office working. We encourage registrars to attend the office for a minimum of two days a week.
Our main office base is at County Hall in Dorchester alongside other Dorset Council teams. We support a flexible working approach.
Key contacts
For further information, please contact:
Rachel Partridge, Deputy Director of Public Health (01305 225880)
This page was last updated in May 2025