NHS Direct appoints Public Health director

Dr Brian Gaffney has been appointed as NHS Direct’s first Director of Public Health. Amongst his responsibilities, he will build on and develop the Trust’s relationships with the medical profession including GPs, hospital doctors and those working in public health.

Brian joined NHS Direct as National Public Health Advisor in October 2009 before being appointed to this newly established role. He will be working part-time for NHS Direct so that he can continue to work in General Practice in Northern Ireland.

Brian has worked as an NHS doctor for 25 years. Having trained in Ireland and England, he started working in General Practice in 1988. He then trained and qualified as a Consultant in Public Health Medicine in 1993. He was Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Health Promotion Agency from 1996 to 2009.

Brian says: “I am delighted to take on this significant and challenging role. NHS Direct already has excellent relationships with many doctors and I hope I can build on these and increase our collaboration in the future.

“NHS Direct is established as an integral part of the NHS, yet perceptions held by GPs and other doctors about the service are often based on second-hand experiences, and do not reflect the important interactions that occur between NHS Direct and their patients every day. I want to promote a better understanding about the service and learn how we can better support patients and the medical profession.”

Alongside his liaison role with key stakeholders, Brian will be responsible for service development and evaluation in line with changing public health requirements. He’ll also help develop long-term public health programmes of work and provide the Trust with expert medical and public health advice, which will feed into the implementation of NICE/National Service Framework guidelines and to the operations of local and national helplines.

Brian’s main research interests are the prevention of cardiovascular disease, inequalities in health, and health improvement.