About PHINE

PHINE is the public health intelligence function for the North East of England. It aims to bring together all the health intelligence specialists working in the North East Region. Whether they be working in the public health observatory (NEPHO) or in the primary care trusts (PCTs), the health protection agency, public health group in the North East Government Office, and the cancer registry (NYCRIS).

The PHINE Platform

This graphic shows some of the organisations supported on the PHINE platform.

PHINE was set up following a review undertaken by Professor Peter Hill. (PDF - 83Kb)

PHINE Platform Products

PHINE enables information sharing and collaboration across the Platform by developing products to support this function.

Network Events
Special Collections
Group functions

Aims

The aim of PHINE is to:

provide effective links between information specialists in the region
to create a basis for sharing of expertise and good practice
to avoid duplication
to carry out a workplan agreed by the RDPH and DsPH
to develop a single portal enquiry service
to create a programme of personal professional development of relevance to information specialists

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
	The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 requires PCTs and local authorities to produce a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) of the health and wellbeing of its local community. The JSNA will lead to stronger partnerships between communities, local government, and the NHS, providing a firm foundation for commissioning that improves health and social care provision and reduces inequalities. The JSNA was identified as being a project which many constituent organisations of PHINE would need to undertake so joint collaboration project has been developed to prevent duplication of work and encourage a more efficient use of resource. The JSNA group includes members from across the PHINE network and regularly convenes to develop the project. To learn more about JSNA, or to become involved with the project, visit the JSNA groups pages.
Special Interest Groups
	PHINE's specialist interest groups are being developed for people to share advice and best practice. There are already groups specialising in mental health, population statistics, hospital episode statistics (HES), alcohol, obesity, JSNA, reporting tools and GIS, amongst others. If you can't find a group to suit your specialism, any registered user can set one up!
Developing a North East Public Health Professionals Community
	When you register on PHINE, you join a growing community of public health professionals who can share knowledge and expertise. PHINE harnesses the power of social networking technologies facilitate collaboration with public health professionals across the region.