South East London Health Protection Unit

The Health Protection Unit (HPU) provides specialist health protection advice as well as operational support on all health protection matters to NHS trusts, local authorities, community health services (including schools and social services), and the general public. The local authority and Primary Care Trust (PCT) areas served by the Unit are listed on our 'areas covered' page.

The South East London Health Protection Unit's core task is the protection of the health of the public by the control of communicable disease and environmental hazards, and by the local coordination of NHS emergency planning. These goals are achieved by:

• Surveillance
  Surveillance provides information for action, both in relation to transmission of disease from individual cases and in the detection and management of outbreaks and major incidents. It shapes strategy and policy for the control of hazards.
• Management of Incidents
  Dealing with individual cases and outbreaks of disease is a core part of health protection. Consultants in Communicable Disease Control are responsible for the day to day management of individual cases, and for managing outbreaks, to minimize the risk of further cases.
• Policy and Strategy
  Surveillance helps to identify health needs and control measures, and to evaluate prevention and control programmes. To ensure effective health protection and communicable disease control, the results of surveillance must influence strategy and its implementation on a whole range of issues. It is vital that existing relationships with local authorities, NHS trusts (especially PCTs) and other agencies are maintained and developed to ensure the effectiveness of this essential part of the service. These core functions of the SE London Protection Unit are in line with those of the HPA which relate to the work of local teams, outlined in Getting Ahead of the Curve and reiterated in the consultation document on the establishment of the Agency.

These core functions of the South East (SE) London HPU are the same as those of local teams of the HPA outlined in Getting Ahead of the Curve and reiterated in the consultation document on the establishment of the Agency.

The SE sector of London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark. Each of the six PCTs in the sector is coterminous with one of these boroughs. The total population is almost 1.5 million and includes some of the most deprived areas in the country as well as some of the most affluent. There are important, large and diverse ethnic minority populations in most of the six boroughs, and significant numbers of vulnerable people, e.g. the homeless, refugees and asylum seekers, and prisoners.

Rates of sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV) in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham are the highest in the country. Other significant infectious disease problems in include tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, malaria and low rates of immunisation.

Potential chemical threats to the health of the local population include:

• Local industry, particularly in Bexley and Greenwich
• Transport accidents related to major road and rail links in the SE
• Terrorism, which is important because the northern part of the SE sector of London is close to the potential targets of the major financial and political centres of the United Kingdom

Last reviewed: 17 October 2008