Natalie Howden

Leading on a strategic programme of work to promote health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities through addressing the wider determinants of health. Capitalising on opportunities that the Council’s growth agenda presents for creating healthy places for residents to live, work and socialise.

The wider determinants portfolio includes healthy spatial planning and the built environment, active travel, air quality, transport, healthy housing and employment, skills and health.

Work includes:

Engaging with internal and external partners, responding to consultations and providing public health representation on spatial planning policy, planning applications for major developments, land use and transport infrastructure.

Leading, developing, influencing and sustaining strategic partnership work that spans organisational and professional boundaries including local authorities, NHS, voluntary sector and local businesses', to offer expert advice and deliver strategic and operational objectives such as air quality and associated health inequality.

Leading/ co-ordinating health, wellbeing and social care sector input into planning policy/cguidancece, such as Local Plans, planning guidance etc. in the context of a ‘health in all policies’ approach, keeping up to date on current planning, infrastructure and health policy and best practice.

Leading the programme of embedding HiAP across Leicestershire County Council departments around policies and programme design. Lead the support for wider stakeholders to help embed HiAP within their organisations offering guidance and recommendations.
Lead on the Public Health contribution to the creation and review of Health Impact Assessments across the county. Focus on healthy environments, spatial planning, and healthy urban design to reduce inequalities.
I devised and produced a sustainable tiered training approach to ensure organisational knowledge around the wider determinants of health and upskill staff to recognise that every department and function across the Council can take actions to influence health outcomes.

Produced content for the different levels of learning – synthesising complex and wide themes into easy to understand varied learning styles for non public health colleagues including the relationship between housing and health, access to food and health, transport and health, work and health, education and health as well as income and health.
Project-managed tiered training including evaluations, testing, branding, communication plans, implementation, milestones and deadlines.
Produced a rapid HIA tool for Leicestershire which has HEAT considerations built into it.
Introduced a new process for ensuring health considerations within Leicestershire County Council for all new policies, services, revisions and decisions.
Created a Health Impact Assessment toolkit and governance process to scrutinise papers.
All of which will help to embed a systematic approach to influencing the drivers of health outcomes across all departments and formalise health considerations across all functions.

Health improvement programme development to reduce health inequalities and promote better health and wellbeing. Programmes of focus include sexual health, maternal health, spatial planning, air quality and MECC. Healthy schools and Healthy Tots District lead for Hinckley and Bosworth and North West Leicestershire schools/settings. Health improvement operational lead for Healthy Start programme and substance misuse.

Planning, coordination and delivery of public health programmes and initiatives to reduce health inequalities at a community level.
Designated Safeguarding Officer.

Infection disease data analyst working for the regional Epidemiology team on outbreaks and incidents. Report writing, database management and dealing with data queries. Responsible for the information team output. Lead for report writing, policy development and governance processes.