CIEH responds to the Royal Society for Public Health's Unusual Suspects Report

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) welcomes the launch of the Royal Society for Public Health’s (RSPH) new report ‘The Unusual Suspects – Unlocking the Potential of the Wider Public Health Workforce’ and emphasises the need for greater recognition of the central role environmental health plays in safeguarding public health.

Environmental health professionals form part of the core and wider public health workforce – playing a unique and often hidden role within preventative public health protection.

Environmental health cuts across the variety of public health functions within the UK, from hygiene standards to health inequalities and preventing pollution and contamination of environments. Environmental health professionals play vital and diverse roles in determining public health from promoting healthier habits, tackling natural disasters and emergencies, securing safe working conditions, clean air, safe food, and good quality housing.

That is why as part of CIEH’s wider support for a comprehensive public health workforce that is that is fit for the future, we are calling for a greater recognition of the role environmental health professionals play in proactive care as part of our new Workforce Satellite Panel.

Louise Hosking, Executive Director of Environmental Health at CIEH, said:

“2024 is a critical time in the health of the UK, as we are facing a range of societal and global challenges from rising health inequalities to the number of people living with preventable health conditions.

Unlocking the potential of the wider public health workforce begins with recognising and supporting the vital role of environmental health in safeguarding our health and wellbeing, critical for reducing the current NHS waitlist of over seven million people.

With 82% of the public recognising the crucial role of the public health workforce, it’s vital that we connect the dots between preventing ill health and creating a healthy workforce ready to meet current and future challenges.

There is a clear need for a united front across the public health workforce and that is why we are calling for environmental health to have greater recognition as a critical component within public health.”