Hounslow and Brent join up to promote health of population

Hounslow councillors are set to approve plans for the appointment of a shared Director of Public Health with the London Borough of Brent at next week’s cabinet meeting (Tuesday 9 October).

The move is a result of legislation which transfers most of the public health services currently based in Primary Care Trusts to local government from 1 April 2013, giving councils a new duty to promote the health of their population.

Cllr Ajmer Grewal, Hounslow’s cabinet member for leisure and public health, said: “This is an innovative step for both councils as we are looking at sharing a chief officer with a borough that doesn’t share a border with us. 

“We’ve done a lot of work through the West London Alliance (WLA) around the public health agenda and it’s become clear that Hounslow and Brent have a shared vision for fully integrating our new public health responsibilities into existing council functions.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to deliver better joined-up services as we can bring together public health protection and improvement with our own leisure and recreation, housing and regulatory services to improve the well-being of all our residents.”

Both councils have existing public health teams, but the new Director will aim to deliver a greater strategic overview for both councils, working closely with each borough’s Health and Wellbeing Board and senior management teams to try and adopt a sensible, logical and holistic approach to public health.

The recruitment process will begin in mid-October, subject to approval by both councils. 

October 4, 2012