About IHC
About Informing Healthier Choices
Informing Healthier Choices (IHC) – information and intelligence for healthy populations – was proposed by the Department of Health (DH) in a document published in June 2007.
Its purpose is to add impetus and invest some new resources to support development of the public health workforce, and of useful and accessible new data and tools to use it. The focus is on creating flexible tools that will support World Class Commissioning.
The Department commissioned Public Health Action Support Team CIC (PHAST) to coordinate the programme which will be completed in 2010.
The Programme Director is NHS Chief Knowledge Officer, Sir Muir Gray and it has a steering group drawn from both professional bodies and those providing and using public health intelligence.
The IHC Project Team
- Sir Muir Gray - Director
- Mr. Mike Deacon - Programme Manager
- Dr. Catherine Brogan, Clinical Lead
- Ms. Katie Enock, Aim 1 Lead
- Dr. Richard Gibbs, Aim 2 Lead
- Ms. Sue Atkinson, Aim 3 Lead
- Dr. Ben Toth, Aim 4 lead
- Ms. Natalie Hutson, Business Manager
- Mr. Christian Fenn, Project Co-Ordinator
- Ms. Marie Grigson, Project Support Officer
The IHC Steering Group
Miss Patsy Bailey (Chair of Steering Group)
Branch Head, Health Improvement Analysis, Department of Health
Professor Mike Catchpole
Director of the Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency
Dr. Steve George
President, Faculty of Public Health
Mrs Janine Dellar
Public Health Analyst, NHS Leicestershire County and Rutland
Miss Parul Desai,
Consultant in Public Health and Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital
Professor Brian Ferguson
Chair, Association of Public Health Observatories
Ms Tricia Dodd
Deputy Director responsible for Health Analysis and Life Events - Office for National Statistics
Dr. Judith Hooper
Executive Director of Public Health, Kirklees PCT
Miss Angela McNab
Chief Executive, Luton PCT
Mr Andy Mobbs
Policy & Customer Manager, The NHS Information Centre
Professor John Newton
Regional Director of Public Health, NHS South Central
Dr Jammi Rao
Department of Health, Representing Strategic Health Authority Directors of Public Health
Dr Jean Robinson
Public Health Analyst Nottingham City PCT
The future
IHC is discussing with a range of organistations about ‘adopting’ the IHC Programme’s products and outputs in the longer term. More information will be posted as these discussions bear fruit.
Discussions are also underway about how the public health intelligence sector as a whole can work in a more integrated way and updates will be circulated as these progress.
To recieve email updates from IHC (no more than once a month)
“Public Health Intelligence can support World Class Commissioning, even when health finances are stretched. When commissioners and policymakers have robust evidence about what their communities need - and training to use it – they can focus attention and resources to achieve the greatest health benefit.”
Sir Muir Gray
Programme Director
Informing Healthier Choices