What do we do?
Cambridgeshire County Council is responsible for promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of people in Cambridgeshire (except for Peterborough, which is covered by Peterborough City Council). We took over this duty from the NHS in April 2013.
An independent annual public health report must be prepared by the Director of Public Health on the health of local people.
Public Health is about improving health, encouraging healthy lifestyles and improving the wider factors that affect health and wellbeing and health inequalities, protecting the health of our population and supporting health and care services commissioning in both local government and the NHS.
Public Health Cambridgeshire commissions healthcare (e.g. sexual health treatment) and health improvement services (e.g. giving advice on alcohol and drug misuse, helping people stop smoking, advising on obesity and diet, and promoting physical activity, better nutrition and healthy lifestyle) in hospitals, GP practices, pharmacies and in the community.
We also carry out research and gather intelligence to support commissioning and other work designed to tackle health inequalities in Cambridgeshire.
There are five public health functions we must deliver by law, which are:
- helping protect people from the dangers of communicable diseases and environmental threats
- organising and paying for sexual health services
- providing specialist public health advice to primary care services: for example GPs and community health professionals
- organising and paying for height and weight checks for primary school children
- organising and paying for regular health checks for Cambridgeshire people