Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Public Health Consultant – Strategic Role in Bristol's acute hospitals group

1. Strategic Objectives

The BNSSG Acute Trusts are transitioning from an Acute Provider Collaborative to a hospital group model in 2025 to enhance quality, equity, and sustainability of care. This aligns with national priorities under the NHS 10-Year Plan: delivering care closer to home, harnessing technology, and shifting from treatment to prevention.

The postholder will provide strategic public health leadership during this transition, contributing to national/local health priorities and supporting ICS objectives, particularly:

• Health inequalities
• Prevention and early intervention

Key priorities:

• Smokefree 2030 – Reduce smoking rates to under 5%.
• Alcohol and Drugs – Implement whole-system strategies with local authorities to reduce harm and health inequalities.
• Healthy Weight – Deliver whole-system approaches and accessible services for target groups.
• Preventable Mortality – Drive cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention and early detection.

The postholder will champion Core20PLUS5 outcomes, address Inclusion Health groups, and enhance workforce wellbeing as part of an anchor institution model. They will coordinate internal health equity steering groups and align Trust strategies with system-wide prevention goals.

This role includes contributing to Trust Boards and ICS programmes (e.g., Healthier Together 2040), promoting data-led, community-focused strategies, advancing long-term condition management, and applying population health intelligence to forecast and meet demand.

The appointee will collaborate across BNSSG, regional, and national public health networks, contributing to the Healthy Hospitals approach and fostering partnerships across primary care, social care, academia, communities, and internationally.

Key duties include:

• Promoting public health capacity through training, mentoring, and quality improvement initiatives.
• Supporting global health partnerships and public health-oriented research.
• Influencing behaviour and attitudes of staff, patients, and communities to improve health outcomes.

2. Public Health Arrangements

This is a new role reporting to the Chief Medical Officers at NBT and UHBW, with professional oversight from the South Gloucestershire Director of Public Health. The postholder will integrate with the wider BNSSG public health community and benefit from existing CPD and training infrastructure.

Resources must be leveraged across the Hospital Group and ICB. The BNSSG system provides a robust environment for supervision, education, and professional development.

3. Strategic Responsibilities & Key Tasks

• Act as a system leader across boundaries to drive improvements in health and wellbeing.
• Prepare and present public health briefings to Boards, Committees, staff, and stakeholders.
• Develop and implement public health strategies and policies, including inter-agency plans and service specifications.
• Support evidence-based commissioning and evaluation across health, social care, and voluntary sectors.
• Lead on integration of data and intelligence systems across the Acute sector and the wider ICS.
• Champion improvement strategies for patient wellbeing, working with ICSs, contractors, OHID, and UKHSA.
• Act as a research liaison, promoting access to scientific evidence and contributing to local research networks.
• Undertake health needs assessments and prioritisation work.
• Communicate complex data and public health concepts to diverse audiences.
• Apply evidence-based frameworks to drive strategic decision-making and service evaluation.
• Inspire a prevention-focused and health equity-driven culture across the Trusts.

4. Personal Qualities and Requirements

The postholder must manage complex challenges in a multi-agency setting with varied governance and financial frameworks. Key attributes include:

• High intellectual rigour and political acumen.
• Strong negotiation, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and challenge constructively.
• Diplomatic and culturally sensitive approach.
• Flexibility under pressure and ability to meet tight deadlines.

Performance will be assessed by the delivery of measurable improvements in public health outcomes and implementation of change.

5. Professional Requirements

• Registration with GMC, GDC, or UKPHR as a public health specialist.
• Demonstrated competence in public health practice (as per Faculty of Public Health standards).
• Experience in leadership, strategy development, population health, and system-level change.
• Skilled in policy analysis, evaluation, and stakeholder engagement.