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Changes to public health will increase the professional profile of public health and bring new career paths England's directors of public health now have a new employer: responsibility for the administration of public has been transferred from the NHS to local councils. The move, which was part of the government's health reforms, has not only brought a new paymaster, it is also creating career opportunities. Responsibility for social services has already been written into the job descriptions of some local authority public health directors, and it is predicted that other services like environmental...

It's high risk to bring in an entirely new governing board in one go, explains a transition board member in response to claims that the College is not acting democratically Ray Jones claims that the College of Social Work will be undemocratic . This is untrue. We will be fully democratic from 2016 onwards and we will become progressively more democratic up to that point. From this year, half the social worker positions on our governing committees will be democratically elected and this proportion will gradually increase until we achieve full democracy in three years' time. It is widely...

The test is not another complaints system – it puts the voice and opinion of patients at the heart of the NHS The friends and family test is not just another NHS data collection exercise. For the first time, the fundamental purpose of the information collected is to share it with the public in a totally open, transparent way. When the prime minister announced the test, the focus was on giving patients information to help them choose, not providing yet more internal statistics for organisational improvement. Paradoxically however it will become one of the most effective improvement tools the NHS...

Medirest culture delivers high employee retention and happy, motivated teams Medirest is a people business, and our people are fundamental to our success. We promote an environment of mutual respect, where everyone is highly motivated by their work. We have a strong commitment to deliver on our promises around culture change with our teams in a bid to improve the retention rate of our great people. This approach of creating a culture of mutual respect and support that has led to business success is best seen at our contract with South Bucks NHS Trust. Medirest's management of a wide range of...

Proposals to devolve responsibility for NHS workforce education and training to a local level will have benefits for patients, says Sue Slipman The second phase of the Future Forum's work has produced a further round of proposals on some of the critical issues for all providers and commissioners of healthcare in the NHS. The Foundation Trust Network, the trade association for public providers of healthcare in England, has been working hard to ensure that workforce policy embraces a localist agenda, which puts providers in the driving seat. The government has accepted the Future Forum's...

Social workers have gained increasing levels of approval – at least in their professional titles Before I was an approved mental health professional (AMHP), I was an approved social worker, and before I was an approved social worker I was a social worker – but I'm getting ahead of myself already. As with all of the previously named 'approved social workers', I became an approved mental health professional on 3 November 2008 following the passage through Parliament of the amendments to the Mental Health Act 1983. This broadened what had previously been the role of the approved social...

Heads of the four strategic health authority clusters in England will take up their new posts in October The Department of Health (DH) has confirmed the appointment of Strategic Health Authority (SHA) chief executives for the north, south, Midlands and east of England and London. The DH has appointed Ian Dalton as chief executive of NHS North of England, Sir Neil McKay as chief executive of NHS Midlands and East and Sir Ian Carruthers as chief executive of NHS South of England. Dame Ruth Carnall will continue as chief executive of NHS London, the only SHA not be merged into a cluster. The other...