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Developing public health commissioners
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We carried out an assessment of what development is available to public health commissioners, what is needed – both strategically and on the ground, and where there were gaps.
In Autumn 2017 the Academy held a scoping workshop with leaders and pioneers in social value as applied to public health with an objective to ascertain whether there was a need for commissioner development in this area.
It was agreed that a set of tools and training would be developed for release at an event on 5 June 2018 and the Social Value Portal were commissioned to provide technical and industry expertise. These tools can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
The Social Value Act 2012 provided the public health system with an opportunity to obtain additional benefits from procurements beyond the primary purpose. These benefits can be in the form of sustainability initiatives, community benefits, or direct health interventions. Local government has examples where significant benefits have been achieved. Yet despite the enormous potential benefits to publicly funded bodies, many commissioners currently feel unprepared to use social value and have expressed a great deal of interest in further training.
The Academy carried out an assessment of what development is available to public health commissioners, what is needed – both strategically and on the ground, and where there were gaps.
As a result of this, and discussion with like-minded organisations, two key sources of training for public health commissioners have been highlighted:
The Skills Development Network currently provide training for NHS commissioners are willing to open this offer out to local authority public health teams (terms apply)
Skills for Care have created a level 5 qualification for social care commissioners. Working together with ADASS, both London and KSS ADPH, and the Academy this is being expanded to include public health.