About EMPHO

The East Midlands Public Health Observatory (EMPHO) is one of nine regional Public Health Observatories funded by the Department of Health in England.  EMPHO is the regional health intelligence organisation providing information and analysis to support those working to improve health and reduce health inequalities in the East Midlands.

EMPHO is a member of the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) which coordinates joint work across PHOs in the UK and Ireland.

The key overarching roles of PHOs are:

• promoting and delivering health intelligence to decision-makers to improve health and reduce health inequalities
• acting as advocates for population health information, ensuring that high-quality, relevant information is available to a range of stakeholders
• being a single port of call for those who need such information
• developing a skilled health intelligence workforce. 

We do this by:

• monitoring health and disease trends in the Region and highlighting areas for action;
• providing information about key health issues to support commissioning for health improvement and well-being;
• providing information and analysis to support PCTs, local government and local partnerships to promote local action and monitor its impact on health;
• supporting Local Area Agreements (LAAs) in the development of outcomes and indicators;
• producing and refreshing Health Profiles for each local authority area;
• providing a regional service for analysing Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data;
• acting as a source of expertise in health intelligence, indicator development and inequalities measurement;
• undertaking national work on behalf of APHO, working with other government departments as appropriate;
• providing advice and information in support of our national lead areas of teenage pregnancy, food and health and renal health;
• providing advice on methodologies such as Health Equity Audit, Health Impact Assessment and inequality measurement;
• supporting local networks to maximise the use of health intelligence in decision-making;
• developing capacity and capability in the health intelligence workforce through teaching and training

More information is available in The Core Role and Functions of PHOs document..

EMPHO works closely with the Regional Public Health Group, NHS East Midlands, Primary Care Trusts and local health partnerships within the region.  We also work with other regional organisations with intelligence functions (including  Intelligence East Midlands, East Midlands Development Agency, GO-EM, the Health Protection Agency and the Regional Assembly) through joint work such as the State of the Region Report and development of LAA indicators.

In 2005, EMPHO merged with the Trent Cancer Registry to create an integrated public health intelligence service for the East Midlands, including information on cancer incidence, survival and treatment.  It has also enabled the sharing of expertise in areas such as Geographical Information Systems and Statistical Analysis.  It also provides a more secure basis for the continuing provision of Cancer Registration and Intelligence services to the various stakeholders and health communities covering the population of South Yorkshire.

EMPHO’s programme of work is agreed by a Steering Board consisting of representatives of the major stakeholders and chaired by the Regional Director of Public Health. Our annual work plan is available to download.