National Support Teams
The public health National Support Teams [1] constitute a service provided by the UK Government Department of Health. Established in 2006, they provided consultancy-style support and assistance to local health economies across England (the UK's devolved administrations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland generally having their own arrangements). Each team had access to national-level expertise on specific public health specialisms, current including:
• Sexual Health • Tobacco Control • Health Inequalities • Teenage Pregnancy • Childhood Obesity • Alcohol Harm Reduction • Infant Mortality • Response to Sexual Violence • Vaccination and Immunisation • Children and Young Peoples' Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health.
Consultancy and support services were provided free of charge to public-sector clients including local authorities and National Health Service Trusts. The feedback reports generated as a result of these activities were not published by the Department of Health, although some clients choose to post reports ( usually in PowerPoint or PDF format ) on their own websites.
Each National Support Team also shared observations with central Government policy advisors on the real-world public health challenges it identifies through this work. Reception by clients was excellent, with many citing this as one of the best services which the Department of Health had thus far provided. All teams closed in March 2011 as a result of the funding cuts affecting several areas of the public sector in the UK.