my brilliant career - health promotion The new primary care trust public health role should extend the opportunities for health promotion. Ann Dix talks to one manager who has made the transition

Published: 07/03/2002, Volume II2, No. 5795 Page 32

Name: Christine Stiling

Title: Manager, specialist health promotion agency/public health specialist, New Forest primary care trust

Age: 56

Salary:£35,000

Describe your job

As a manager of 32 staff with a budget of£780,000, a lot of my time is spent on people management and supervision of senior staff, but I still have some time protected for bidding and developing projects. Being a very positive thinker, I am always finding new opportunities and ideas for projects that I am sure my hardworking staff sometimes dread. For the past six months, I've also worked part-time as a public health specialist for New Forest PCT - a very different role, which has set me new challenges, including helping set up the local strategic partnership. I am working with the consultant in public health and the local authority lead to develop the future work programme for the public health team and audit our public health competencies and training needs. From 1 April, staff will devolve to three locality public health teams, but I will retain some managerial responsibility for the locality health promotion managers and still be their professional lead, while continuing as a public health specialist for two days a week.

What was your career path?

I trained as a dental therapist in 1965, but my career got off to a slow start - partly because there were few dental therapist jobs around at that time and partly because I was a single parent with two children. Ten years later, I Just the job retrained, and worked as a dental therapist with Southampton school health service. Moving into health promotion seemed a logical step, as I was already doing teaching and health promotion work in schools. I worked my way up from administrator to senior health promotion specialist before becoming health promotion manager in 1994. I have now worked for 26 years with the NHS in Southampton.

Training and qualifications Registered dental therapist, MSc in health promotion, certificate in NHS management.

What attracted you to your current job?

To be able to put my vision of what a health promotion department could look like into practice.

What do you see as your main strengths?

Optimism, enthusiasm, trying always to see opportunities, and my in-depth knowledge of the NHS. Plus, being very adaptable to change and supportive of staff.

What are the biggest challenges over the coming year?

Developing and supporting staff in their new roles in the PCT public health teams.

What's been the high point of your career?

Succeeding in getting the manager's job and feeling I have all the staff backing me when things get tough.

And the low point?

The end of last year was very stressful, waiting for a decision on the future arrangements for public health departments. As a manager, my post was vulnerable.

Is there anything you might have done differently?

Only to have pushed my career on earlier.

What might you have chosen as an alternative career?

Those who know me well might say I would make a good personal shopper or on a more serious note, a lifestyle coach.

How do you relax?

I switch off by exercising with the help of a personal trainer, who makes sure I give 100 per cent. This helps when stress levels are high.

Do you have any remaining ambitions?

To ensure the success of the New Forest public health team and continue to develop new skills, such as the leadership course I am starting. As I have an Italian son-in-law and a Frenchspeaking daughter-in-law. I also need to learn Italian and brush up on my French so I can converse with my grandchildren. l Title: Health promotion manager. Also known as health development managers, health improvement managers, strategic leaders for health promotion and, increasingly, public health specialists - to mention a few.

Salary:£30-£45k

Numbers: Currently around 100 in England, but NHS restructuring means numbers are in transition.

Distinguishing features: Flexible, entrepreneurial, experienced in working 'horizontally' across a wide range of organisations and 'vertically' within organisations, from the level of porter to chief executive.

Status: The government's focus on inequalities in health and endorsement of the social model of health is creating a favourable climate for health promotion. The profusion of posts around priority areas such as Sure Start, crime and disorder, teenage pregnancy and smoking cessation is likely to grow as primary care trusts develop their public health role.

Prospects: The opportunity to take on a broader public health role as members of PCT public health teams. This could involve becoming accredited public health specialists, or even becoming eligible for public health director posts, now that these are open to those with qualifications other than medicine.