Public health observatories
November 2012
There are nine public health observatories in England, each one responsible for collecting, analysing and disseminating health data throughout a particular region. They are an invaluable resource for health information as they provide easy access to tools and statistics to help you identify the injury prevention priorities in your area.
What information do they provide?
Data sources for child accidents include hospital episode statistics, police road traffic accident statistics, fire statistics and incident reports. Injury data is vital for informing delivery initiatives and the work of Local Strategic Partnerships. It is also useful for measuring progress and evaluating work against local performance indicators.
The public health observatories
APHO – Association of Public Health Observatories - The umbrella organisation for all public health observatories including 9 from the English regions and 3 more for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Links to the regional observatories can be found in the table below. As well as providing information across all topics throughout a particular region, each regional PHO acts as a ‘lead’ on one or two specific health issues. You can see their 'lead' topics below, or view the next resource for more information on injury prevention and the PHOs.
| Leads on: Primary Care Sustainable Development Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) | Leads on: Food and Nutrition Renal Disease Teenage Pregnancy Cancer | Leads on: Black and Ethnic Minorities Tobacco Health Inequalities |
| Leads on: Mental Health Learning Disabilities Offender Health Europe and International | Leads on: Drug Misuse Alcohol Crime and Violence Dental Health | Leads on: Physical Activity Obesity Transport Coronary Heart Disease Stroke |
| Leads on: Sexual Health Injuries End of Life | Leads on: Older People Social Care Environment | Leads on: Children and Young People Includes ChiMAt - the Child and Mental Health Observatory Diabetes Health Economics |
The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) is the UK's leading charity working to reduce the number of children and young people killed, disabled or seriously injured in accidents.