The bodies representing Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and in Australia have signed an agreement which could help boost recruitment into the profession in each country.
The Presidents of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and Environmental Health Australia (EHA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which they say develops a clear pathway for EHOs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be able to practice in Australia and vice versa.
Environmental health is one of the hardest professional roles to fill in the four countries with many vacancies remaining open for months and the chronic shortage of EHOs is causing concern for the future of public health protection as a result.
CIEH President Mark Elliott and EHA President Melissa Burn signed the agreement following the culmination of seemingly many years of negotiation and mapping of competencies between the countries.
It is hoped that this agreement could be used as a blueprint for similar MoU’s between other countries and help tackle the workforce challenges in environmental health globally.
CIEH President Mark Elliott said: “The signing of the MoU with our counterparts in Australia marks a significant and exciting milestone in the history of the environmental health profession in our countries. England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Australia share ongoing challenges in terms of recruitment and the future of the profession is under threat without action such as this being taken.
“We hope this agreement will open up doors and remove barriers for EHOs, should they wish to relocate, to utilise their wide armoury of skills and knowledge for the benefit of communities in our countries and help boost under pressure environmental health workforces.”
Environmental Health Programme Leader at Liverpool John Moores University, Graeme Mitchell, said: “For those of us who have spent our career in environmental health and are passionate about the profession this agreement is an exciting development, which will undoubtedly help to make studying environmental health an even more attractive proposition with the increased possibilities and options this MoU represents.”
EHA President Melissa Burn said: “This MoU acknowledges the global nature of environmental health. It enhances the environmental health qualification, making it a more attractive option given the widened accessibility of opportunities.”
Professor of Environmental Health at Flinders University, South Australia Kirstin Ross said: “This agreement provides a clear pathway for environmental health professionals to follow to allow them to practice in a different country, and excitingly, provides a blueprint for other countries to undertake similar MoU’s.”
