Healthier communities

Topics: public health, performance management

I met with Sue Crutchley today who has just joined the IDeA working with the Healthier Communities team. Part of her remit will be to look at performance management issues and I'll be working alongside her on a part time basis.

This is a really exciting opportunity for me - as I'm keen to get more involved with health policy for a variety of reasons.

Because the community of practice approach has worked so successfully for us in the PMMI project (www.idea.gov.uk/performance) and looks so promising for PM in Partnerships (http://pmpartner.editme.com) - we're exploring the same approach for healthier communities. For exampple, helping local groups share their learning on using health data to set priorities and deliver improved outcomes.

Because the IDeA has traditonally had an audience with mainly local government - it will be important to reach out to our partner colleagues in PCTs, health intelligence networks, and health data observatories.

I'm looking forward to the challenge. Although, I have to admit that working on issues of healthier choices only highlights my less than stellar ones - and makes me feel a tad guilty. John Reid famously gave up the fags when he became Health Secretary - maybe I could, too.