The Role of National Organizations and Practitioners in Promoting Public Health: Analytical Essay

The role of national organisations is to help people live longer with a healthy life and it intends to avoid diseases and infections. The Word Health Organisation, National Health Services, Public Health England, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Food Standards Agency, Health and Safety Executive and Third Sector for example Diabetes UK, British Heart Foundation and more are part of the national organizations. These services are there to make sure individuals have the protection, care and treatment to keep them well.

National Health Services NHS

The NHS also known as National Health Services is a publicly funded healthcare system. It’s a free service which entitles individuals to consultations with a GP/nurse, hospital treatment in Accident & Emergency (A&E), minor injuries treatment in clinics, maternity services and many more healthcare utilities. The organisation was set up by the labour party in 1948 and founded by Aneurin Bevan who wanted medical care free at any time and didn’t want wealth status to cause a problem. The NHS gives a great standard of care to patients so they are fit. There are so many people who work for the NHS more than any other organisation also there are lots of career opportunities in the NHS field. They work with different organisations such as healthwatch and local services this is for the best interest of patients, communities and the wider population also they provide training so workers have a range of skills. The role of the NHS is to avoid diseases as well as treat them so no life is in danger and everyone’s health is affected positively also it makes sure voices are heard and needs are met. It aims to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals and cure illnesses.The practitioners such as healthcare assistant, midwives, doctors and other professionals are within the NHS and work together on strategies to promote public health as the NHS are providing money for smoking support groups led by midwife or a doctor this can encourage an individual as they can have a one to one interaction to talk about how to quit or there’s a group where they meet each other and talk about their experiences to help them them acknowledge they aren’t alone and people out there are having same problems, education courses for people with type 2 diabetes this is so they are aware of the condition and getting advice on how to manage this could be led by nurses and doctors who hand out information booklet or an online plan which is on the NHS website. They attempt to promote public health by reducing health inequality as it’s still growing due to significant financial cost. They also do this by working with practitioners so they can support and improve individuals’ lifestyles. They have achieved many different difficulties such as life expectancy for men has increased from 70.9 to 79.4 and women 76.9 to 83.3 this is a major change as eldely have more time to live. There has also been a big change in safer working conditions as new laws and legislations have passed that protect individuals as there’s been reduction of workplace accidents and incidents as protective equipment and clothing has been introduced this has impacted NHS positively as individuals aren’t at harm and less people are using emergency services. They are still working on an ageing population as individuals are growing old they need more care and support.

World Health Organisation WHO

The World Health Organisation also known as WHO is part of the United Nations this is an intergovernmental organisation. Their roles are to keep peace and security as well as better living standards and human rights with nations around them. WHO was an idea thought after world war 2 and was set up in 1948. It was led by a group of advisers from member states of the UN. It aims to observe health around the world, campaigns to improve health and makes decisions on global health priorities so public health is promoted. There are a variety of people who work in different sections of this organisation in 150 countries. WHO doesn’t only concentrate on poor countries but plays a part in developed economies such as the UK. They want to make sure an individual’s physical, mental and social well being is strong and they aren’t suffering alone. They also arrange healthcare supplies for the government and in case of emergencies they deliver aid. They also helped during the Lebanon explosion as they sent out a plane carrying 20 tonnes of healthcare supplies to support and treat injured individuals. WHO aims to promote public health by raising awareness of issues such as tuberculosis by remembering it every year on the 24th March this was an awful disease killing so many. The WHO organization and practitioners work together on strategies for health care across the world by researching and arranging technical support for counties that need it. They try to prevent communicable infectious diseases by setting up programmes supporting education and resources such as mosquito nets in undeveloped countries where it’s really warm. It also has a role to play in preventing deaths from noncommunicable diseases. The WHO partnered up with Public Health England to research into virus cases at a specialist lab in Salisbury. They are also collaborating with the University of Surrey at the Centre for Protection of Water Quality. They have accomplished many things such as finding a vaccine and controlling the outbreak of yellow fever in Brazil saving millions of lives this outbreak was caused by mosquitoes. Another thing they have tackled is ending smallpox this was by finding a cure such as vaccination as it killed more than 2 million people. Also in March 2017 the campaign of vaccination was successful in Nigeria this stopped polio transmission. However they are still working on how to stop cholera killing thousands of children and adults each year even though they have found a cure. They are also still trying to find a cure for ebola as they are trying to tackle the ongoing disease.

Public Health England

The Public Health England is an agency of the health and social care department and a specific organisation which is useful and independent.They have partnered up with different institutions such as the government, parliament, NHS, WHO and many more this is by giving their professional and scientific views to support them. They’ve helped WHO by assistance during emergency responses and shared knowledge and helped train staff so they know what to expect and are aware how to protect individuals in their own countries as well as the other countries. They have a close connection with the NHS as they are advisers and give them the best information by observing matters and finding ways to deal with them. Also it benefits the public and encourages them to stay safe as they help plan out screening tests which give individuals a longer life to live and help diagnose any illnesses. The role of Public Health England is to

It was first created on the 1st April 2013 by Duncan Selbie bringing together 70 organisations to create a single public health service. They have employed an overall of 5,500 people who are oftenly researchers,scientists or public health professionals. The aim of it is to guard and defend the communities in the UK from health issues and also try to eliminate health hazards between different age groups in the population. The key issues they are still working on include

Practitioners in public health

Practitioners who work within the public health include midwives,scientists, medical doctors,health visitors and many more. Their role is to work together and fight the risk of illnesses and protect the public. The current health issues they are trying to tackle are smoking and mental health, childhood obesity, alcohol consumption and many more. Practitioners support individuals so they could live a long and healthy life. They are certified by the general medical council to become part of the team.

Midwives

Midwives are specialists who take care of pregnant women and babies to make sure they are well. They need qualifications such as five GCSES with science, three A levels and a full midwifery degree at a university. They are certified by the general medical council and can also refer patients and self-refer so the patient has the best care they need. They have different jobs such as scanning the baby and seeing how well they are developing during birth and labour they are present. They do this by regular home checks or in centre appointments and keep a record of the child’s development in the red book. They also facilitate mothers in deciding what kind of birth they would like by giving options.They inform new mothers about possible conditions that can be genetically passed on such as cystic fibrosis or down syndrome but there are many more. They also give out information leaflets and a direct call service to new mothers for advice in case of emergency. Midwives have a role in the stop smoking campaign to help individuals and promote public health. The stop smoking is for women who smoke and are pregnant. As a cigarette contains more than 4000 chemicals the baby’s life is in danger and can cause different effects such as miscarriages, stillbirth, sudden infant death and birth abnormality. It could also affect the mother as it’s a high chance of her not being able to have a baby again and also she’d have low amounts of oxygen. Midwives promote public health by giving mothers aid and methods such as nicotine replacement therapy is used to stop pregnant women from smoking it only contains nicotine and comes in many different forms such as patches, gum, inhalator, nasal spray, mouth spray, oral strips, lozenges and microtabs. They will also have a record of if an individual has been attending scans as well as attending the stop smoking intervention. They encourage public health as a child can live health later on and won’t have complications. Midwives also provide a test called carbon monoxide breath test it is offered to all women during maternity bookings and appointments and it’s a choice if a pregnant woman wants to take it or not.

They run different types of group classes or antenatal classes. This is to teach new mothers and fathers on how to look after the baby and prepare so it builds confidence as they are learning new techniques and know they are ready in these classes they look over on topics such as breast breastfeeding, exercise for pregnant or new mothers so they don’t exhaust themselves, support on how to cope in labour and what to expect alongside with many other methods so they don’t feel alone. Midwives promote public health by helping pregnant mothers get free dental care and prescriptions as they are provided with medical cards. They are also given discounts on health related items for their baby and themselves so they are healthy.

Health visitors

Health visitors are professionals who work within the public health sector. They help parents who have new babies and children between the ages of 0-5 years by offering support and giving informed advice on how they can develop and the sort of techniques and skills are useful to use. The qualifications needed to become a health visitor is a degree for qualified nurse or midwife they then have to take a course called SCPHN-HV also known as health visiting Specialist Community Public Health Nursing – Health Visiting this is to develop valuable skills which will be used while working it’s also important to have this as it’s a public role. They are certified by the general medical council who approve, set standards and if there’s any complaints they will investigate. Health visitors can refer patients by making appointments if they have any issues or need a checkup. They can also give advice as they are qualified to work in close partnerships with other local healthcare providers such as GP or specialist clinics in case there’s any issues. They have different roles such as visiting your home for the first time after the baby has arrived. This is between 10 days to see how well the mother and baby is and assess them. Health visitors assess babies by weighing them to make sure they are gaining weight, check how well they feed and support the mother with breastfeeding, what kind of routine they have and the baby is also given a blood spot test this is a heel prick which shows if the baby has any rare diseases. However the mother is assessed by questions on emotional wellbeing after giving birth to the child and how well they’re getting on. They give out personal child health records also known as the red book. These are useful as it will record the child’s weight, height, vaccinations and other important information each time you go to your GP or visit the clinic. The health visitors are passionate about promoting a healthy lifestyle so no one’s at risk of illness and everyone is protected. Health visitors may also invite parents to groups so they can meet new people and their baby could be supported if they have any effects on health or development. The child will have a one to one assessment with the health visitor to see how well they are growing and it gives evidence to health visitors as they can see the child’s health is great and is developing. They focus on helping tackle child obesity by having interventions so later in life it’s a positive impact on the child. It’s done by partnership with parents and helping them know what types of foods to give or the proportions. This promotes public health as it’s less likely for children to develop illnesses. To reduce obesity children are encouraged to go out more as buildings are being created so they can travel and see better places. Also bans on advertising unhealthy foods have increased as children are influenced by them this is a good thing as they are distracted from it.