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Public Health appointments

23 March 2022

Grace Norman and Colum Durkan

Colum Durkan                                                                                   Grace Norman 


Two new senior members have been appointed in the Public Health Directorate. 
Grace Norman, Deputy Director of Public Health, and Colum Durkan, Consultant in Public Health, will start in their roles next month.

Grace Norman 

Grace read psychology at the University of Sussex, before working for the NHS for five years, where she undertook a range of nursing workforce and operational projects.  

Working in a hospital led her to a keen interest in prevention and focusing on promoting and improving health more holistically. Grace accepted a place at the London School of Hygiene and Tropic Medicine to achieve a Masters in Public Health, after which she joined the Hertfordshire Public Health team. 

This led Grace to Public Health speciality training, where, over the course of five years, she was embedded in teams in local authorities, Public Health England and the NHS to refine her public health knowledge and skills working at a strategic level, improving the health of the populations she has served. 

Since September 2021, Grace has been working as interim Consultant in Public Health in Jersey, leading on healthcare public health and will be transitioning into the role of Deputy Director of Public Health role, taking responsibility for health protection health improvement and implementing the forthcoming Public Health Strategy.  

Colum Durkan

Colum studied dentistry at King’s College London and worked as a dentist in a variety of clinical roles. His time in clinical practice gave him an insight into the scale of health inequalities and the challenges involved in addressing them. This led him to specialty training in Dental Public Health, which he undertook in the Midlands. 

During training he attained a Masters in Public Health at the University of Nottingham and worked with the NHS, Public Health England and local authorities on a range of strategic projects. On completion of training he transitioned to a locum consultant post in the NHS Midlands Healthcare Public Health team, from which he joins the Government of Jersey. His focus in Jersey will be on Healthcare Public Health and Health Intelligence, when he starts in early April. 

Director of Public Health, Professor Peter Bradley, said: “I’m delighted to be welcoming Grace and Colum into the Public Health Directorate. Their combined wealth of experience will be a huge asset to the Government of Jersey as we deliver essential work to improve the health outcomes to Islanders. 

“The last 6 months have been an extremely exciting time for our Public Health Directorate as we have expanded the team of public health professionals to drive forward the vital work of public health in Jersey.”  

Background


The appointment process was fully compliant with the Jersey Appointments Commission guidelines.

Jersey’s Public Health Directorate was strengthened with a wider team last year. The Directorate works to improve health outcomes across the Island, to:

  • address health inequalities in Jersey, particularly for those who are more at risk of poorer health

  • reduce the disparities between the health of different groups by promoting healthier lifestyles 

  • protect the Island from health hazards

  • take a whole population view, which emphasises joint responsibility for health, health protection and disease prevention

  • recognise the key role of Government in promoting good health as well as preventing disease, and identifying and preparing for future public health challenges

  • emphasise partnership working with all those who contribute to the health of the population

  • research, collect and analyse data to improve Jersey’s understanding of public health challenges in the Island. 


The Directorate comprises an expanded team of experts providing professional advice on all public health matters, led by Professor Peter Bradley, who started his role as Director of Public Health (DPH) in July 2021. Professor Bradley is a medically qualified doctor and joined from Public Health England. 

Public Health continues to be hosted by the Department for Strategic Policy, Planning and Performance (SPPP), since being separated from health delivery in 2017 to increase its independence from health operations and better influence health in all policies. Professor Bradley has been designated as a Medical Officer of Health in law and there is no change to the statutory independence of the role.

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