Public Health Specialist

We are seeking to appoint an Intermediate Public Health Practitioner to our Public Health Team, who is passionate about the health of people in Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.

Public Health Practitioners are responsible for the delivery, coordination and facilitation of a range of evidence based public health programmes that build on local assets to address multiple health needs and a range of evidence based public health programmes that focus on the wider determinants of health including economic development, housing, active travel, climate change and air quality.

A key aspect of the role is focusing on the wider Council’s role in improving health outcomes and reducing health inequalities. As a Public Health Practitioner, you will support and influence the wider Council services to maximise the opportunities to embed health and wellbeing in everything we do. Up to 80% of what influences population health happens outside the health service.

As a member of the Public Health Team, there is the opportunity to work from home or to work from one of our sites within the county (e.g. New County Hall or Chy Trevail). However, as this is an operational role, many of the responsibilities will involve face to face work with various local providers / organisations, so travel between sites within the county will be part of the role as will close working with other Council departments.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to make a real difference to our local communities. Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly has some big public health challenges - deprivation is a persistent problem, though Cornwall as a whole is not deprived there are areas where there are very high levels of deprivation and this has not changed for some years. Around 13% of the population of Cornwall live in the 20% most deprived communities in England and 17% of our children live-in low-income families. However, it is also a county of great change as Cornwall is one of nine areas invited to take part in the government’s ‘levelling up’ programme.

Working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the key deliverables of the Department, responsible for providing support as required across a range of public health projects and initiatives.

Intermediate Public Health Practitioner (Suicide Prevention & Mental Health)

Key functions will be to:
Support the delivery of a range of projects and programmes across the themes of suicide prevention and mental health, including leading on the Real Time Suicide Surveillance System. Support the development and maintenance of strategic relationships with Council directorates in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Councils, the Integrated Care Board and other external partners for the purpose of improving public health outcomes, with particular focus on suicide prevention and mental health. Turn evidence into practice, reviewing, appraising and implementing research and national policy in a way that is appropriate for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Helping to build a culture of health and wellbeing within the Council(s) and wider public services, ensuring that officers, members and partners understand how they can contribute to better health outcomes and are motivated to do so.

Interviews will be held on Monday 14th August at New County Hall, Truro (face-to-face), from midday onwards.

For further information about this exciting opportunity please contact Paula Chappell (Advanced Practitioner) on 07738 293 690 or Lee Evans (Public Health Principal) on 07925 360 364.

Whilst the location/work-base for this role may have been specified our evolving ways of working means that the role may require you to also work remotely (e.g., from home/other locations). We will discuss this with you during the recruitment process.

We are happy to talk about flexible working options such as part-time or compressed hours. More examples of our flexible working opportunities can be found here - flexible working options.

About us

Fairness and inclusion are at the heart of our vision for Cornwall. In order to best serve our communities, we are striving to achieve a diverse workforce that is inclusive of all backgrounds, cultures and identities; e.g., race, disability, sex, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation. We are an equal opportunities and Disability Confident employer, and we will assess applicants on their merits.

Cornwall Council is committed to safeguarding and following safer recruitment principles to help make sure our staff and volunteers are suitable to work with children, young people and adults at risk. It’s a vital part of creating a safe and positive environment and making a commitment to keeping all service users safe from harm.

Cornwall Council deliver services to more than half a million local people and over five million visitors a year. Find out about working and volunteering for us.