The Department of Health has published a Public Health Outcomes Framework for England that contains indicators ideal for pharmacy services, such as smoking cessation and weight management.

The 66 indicators are grouped into four domains relating to the three pillars of public health:

  • Improving the wider determinants of health
  • Health improvement
  • Health protection
  • Healthcare public health and preventing premature mortality.

Indicators include excess weight in adults, smoking prevalence, successful completion of drug treatment, and falls and injuries in the over 65s. The Framework also considers tackling the causes of ill health, with indicators such as school attendance, domestic abuse, homelessness and air pollution.

The framework is designed to underpin a more effective, integrated and professional public health system that will give clear accountability for the improvement and protection of the public’s health. It embodies localism, with new responsibilities and resources for local government.

Public Health England will be the new national delivery organisation for the public health system, working with partners across the system and in wider society to deliver support and enable improvements in the areas set out in the framework. It will also design and maintain systems to protect the population against existing and future threats to health.