Swindon Borough Council
Introduction to Swindon
Swindon is a growing town of 233,000 people, situated halfway between Bristol and Reading. It is close to the Cotswolds and the North Wessex Downs, which are both Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Swindon is a hub for businesses and organisations outside of London, and economic development is an important focus for the local authority.
Council Priorities
- Reduce inequality – ensuring we make Swindon a fairer place, reducing disadvantage, making poorer areas richer and eliminating big disparities in life expectancy, education levels and social justice
- Build a better Swindon - creating a town ready for the challenge of the coming decades and understanding what facilities and infrastructure we need. Understanding our direct and indirect role in improving the town centre and in creating more affordable housing while supporting and brokering support from the private sector.
- Achieve net zero – ensuring we fully play our part as a council and a town in combatting climate change. Working with communities to find new ways of doing things that help not hinder the natural environment.
Generally, the health of the population in Swindon is similar to England as a whole and faces similar challenges. These challenges include increasing levels of obesity and a population that is living longer with chronic health conditions. Swindon’s population is projected to increase by 11% by 2028, and by a further 7% by 2038. This increase will be proportionately greater in the older population. This provides challenges, including a higher demand on primary care and social care services. Public health will need to drive the prevention agenda across Swindon over the coming decade to support services to deal with the challenges of a larger population and an increase in chronic health conditions, for example, Type 2 diabetes.
Despite being relatively affluent Swindon has some areas with high levels of need and deprivation. There is a disparity in life expectancy for females and males of 8 and 5 years, respectively, between different wards in Swindon. An overview of health and wellbeing in Swindon can be found here.
Public Health Team in Swindon
The Public Health team is based at the main Swindon Borough Council offices on Euclid Street, in the centre of Swindon. Free parking is available for staff and the offices are a fifteen-minute walk from the train station. Swindon Borough Council is a unitary authority with 57 local councillors from across the political spectrum. The administration is currently Labour.
The Swindon Public Health team is relatively small, giving it the flexibility to adapt quickly to changes in the local authority and in partner organisations, as the COVID-19 pandemic has exemplified. It is well integrated within the council and works closely with other teams, including social care, planning and education. The Public Health team also works closely with the Integrated Care System (ICS), Swindon Locality and Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GWH), the local secondary care provider, as well as regional and national organisations. Senior Public Health team members support the Primary Care Networks that operate across Swindon to support the development of preventative work in primary care. Swindon also has strong relationships with the voluntary and community sector across the town. Public Health includes the Community Health & Wellbeing Team who deliver on social prescribing, physical activity and advice and information services.
The Council’s Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2033 sets out an overall aim of increasing the number of years spent in good health for people in Swindon, particularly through reducing inequalities in healthy life expectancy. To accomplish this three main priorities have been set, which form the strategic framework for the Public Health team in Swindon:
- Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Eat Well and Move More
- Stop Smoking and Reduce Alcohol
Training Opportunities in Swindon
Swindon is a small, friendly team and there are opportunities to get involved in work across the three public health domains. This flexibility means that the training needs of the individual registrar are prioritised, including providing support and time for professional exams as well as tailoring work towards specific learning outcomes. As a unitary authority, Swindon Council provides opportunities for trainees to build experience in influencing outcomes across the wider determinants of health.
Good relationships with partner organisations, including the acute care provider and the ICS, mean that registrars can get involved in specific healthcare projects.
Swindon usually hosts two or three registrars, in either phase of training. Trainees will agree on their work plan with their educational supervisor.
Registrars currently or recently placed in Swindon have led on the following projects:
- Cost analysis of children’s eye screening programme
- Evidence review of vaccine uptake interventions in children and young people
- Evaluation of vaccine uptake in children and young people in Swindon
- Developed press release for COVID-19 booster vaccine
- Investigated Swindon’s Covid-19 outbreaks
- Oral Health Needs Assessment with a focus on at-risk groups which was taken to the Health and Wellbeing Board
- Evaluation of the Maternity Weight Management Programme in Swindon
- Evaluation of the Falls Prevention Hub
- Evidence review and report about the management of Korsakoff’s Disease
- Evaluation of the provision of Healthy Start vitamins for pregnant women
- Investigation of the disproportionate number of deaths in Asian children found by the Child Deaths Overview Panel
- Evaluation of Swindon’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy which was taken to the Health and Wellbeing Board
- Lead on Public Mental Health – including producing a public mental health strategic plan taken to the Health and Wellbeing Board, engaging with partners on mental health priorities for Swindon and wider system level work
- Development of a strategic plan for cardiovascular and diabetes prevention
- Options proposal for latent TB screening in Swindon, and contributed to the business plan
- Preparation of the Director of Public Health Annual Report
- Writing the Annual Health Protection Report
- Children and Young People’s Health Needs Assessment
- Undertaking an evidence review and policy document for a Hot Food Takeaway Policy
Key Contacts
For further information, please contact:
Rob Carroll Consultant in Public Health
Public Health Department
Swindon Civic Centre
Wat Tyler West
Beckhampton Street
Swindon SN1 2JH
This page was last updated in April 2024