At the start of this year, the Chartered Institute will make a significant step change in its capacity and effectiveness to promote environmental health and those who work to improve it.

We have a new president, Brian Hanna, who is perfectly placed not only to build on the successes of his predecessor David Purchon, but to represent the profession at the highest levels given his current position on the Commission for Sustainable Development. The new chairman, Clive Wadey, is the first chairman to come from the Commercial and Industrial Centre (the fastest growing centre of the CIEH). Building on his two predecessors' work on recasting the governance structure of the organisation, he will be supported in his year of office by a fully operational board and council structure and head the Chartered Institute's ambitious programme for the coming year. I take office as chief executive on 1 January 2002, and as a result of my long involvement with the Chartered Institute have a unique perspective on the workings of this professional body. I will be working specifically on five key themes during the coming year: operational management, communication, service delivery, board programmes, and understanding.

Central to these key themes will be: - the retention of budget control;
- staff restructuring to support the new boards;
- constructing a programme to improve communications with the aim of raising the profile and good reputation of the CIEH;
- increasing the services provided to members, ensuring that the boards deliver their objectives for the coming year; and
- increasing the understanding of the way in which the CIEH and its commercial operations harmonise to promote environmental health.

The Chartered Institute is on the threshold of great change and far greater influence. The council, at its meeting in December, allocated increased resources to address the formidable work programmes designed for the coming year. This will mean in practice that we will positively address the recruitment problems currently being faced by the profession. Careers packs and revised recruitment literature are in the process of being drafted; this, together with a drive towards an enhanced public profile through the programmes of the Policy Development Board should yield positive results. At the AGM in June 2002, the issue of chartered status will be presented to the membership for acceptance. The review of centres and branches will be progressed and in advance of that, the new Welsh Centre, combining the current North Wales and South Wales Centres, will be created in April 2002. This development will enable a stronger voice to be developed in Wales, thereby enhancing dialogue with the Welsh Assembly and its political structures. With that will be the appointment of a head of policy for Wales, a post to be advertised during the course of the year. A similar post exists in Northern Ireland. Gary McFarlane, who took office on 1 November last year, has already made great strides in identifying the key issues which will be driven through a comprehensive work programme and developed with the members in Northern Ireland. The consultation paper on the centre and branch review will propose boundary changes to match the regional development agency areas and in time, we will seek to provide full-time support to the members in those new centre regions. The two main boards will be maintaining education and professional standards and in addition will be examining the base qualification curriculum and the opportunities for the endorsement of specialist training groups and the potential for a broader membership. The policy board will be promoting the profession's involvement in public health and sustainable communities, while promoting our continued role in the traditional areas associated with environmental health functions. Communication will be a major challenge and while the traditional routes of the Environmental Health Journal and Environmental Health News will continue to be key vehicles for communication with members, we will be appointing a head of communications and membership services to develop new communication routes and services through e-mail, website development and other means. From the sketch above, and within the pages of this journal, the extent of the changes and programmes that are taking place in this current phase of development for the Chartered Institute can be seen. I am extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to lead the organisation at this time and will continually strive to ensure the profession grows in stature over the coming years.
G raham Jukes, chief executive

NEW CHAIRMAN
Coming from the Commercial and Industrial Centre, Clive Wadey has the distinction of being the first non-local government member to be elected chairman. Clive has already set out his vision for 2002. He cites the long-standing recruitment shortage as the key issue to be addressed in the year ahead adding, "everything is linked to this". His approach to solving the problem is clear. The CIEH must make a concerted effort to re-engage its membership. By attracting members and involving more of those at a grass roots level in the decision making process, he says, "everything else will follow on". At present, Clive believes the organisation is heading in one direction while its membership is heading in another. To counter this, he thinks the CIEH should offer something more and believes that the centre should be more active in "finding out what makes its members tick". One way forward would be for the CIEH to broaden its appeal and continue building partnerships with like-minded bodies. Clive also emphasises the importance of attracting former practitioners whose membership has lapsed back into the decision making process. He recognises that environmental health practitioners have a wide range of skills and many have specialised to a point where they have become disengaged. The newly established research journal is one way, he says, that efforts to re-engage members can move forward. Clive has played an active role in the Chartered Institute's development since joining the organisation in 1978. Elected as a trustee in 1989, he has extensive experience of working in local government where he practised for nine years specialising in food hygiene, before subsequently moving into the commercial sector. Although he will be the first non-local government member to be elected chairman, he emphasises that there is no real distinction between the role of environmental health practitioners in the public and private sector. The basic tenet remains improving the public's health.
Clive Wadey, chairman

CIEH GETTING BACK TO GRASS ROOTS
The introduction of open membership forums (OMFs), which will be fully established from 2002, aims to provide a mechanism by which members can participate at local level and can voice their opinions on what the CIEH should be doing in particular areas (see page 4). As such, they have the potential to be invaluable and influential sounding boards for the development of future policies. Last month, the Northern Ireland Centre led the way by holding the first OMF, which was specifically designed with the aim of gathering members' views on some of the key issues likely to shape the regional policy agenda for Northern Ireland. It was clear that the majority who attended the meeting felt that OMFs are a positive step forward in terms of engaging ordinary members with the Chartered Institute. "It was great to see similar like-minded people who believe in similar issues," commented one member. The concept of open forums, to get "grass roots" opinion across to the CIEH are popular with many members and there is a real opportunity for other centres to build on this idea. But how does a centre, or branch, get started? The principles employed by the Northern Ireland Centre might offer some insight and practical advice to members wishing to become active in influencing the CIEH's work programme and policy. There are three key points to keep in mind before organising on OMF: - open participation; - ownership; and - transparency and accountability. First, the ideas and opinion of every member are valid and the process needs to allow everyone the opportunity to contribute in an open and non-intimidating way. Second, members should all be able to connect with the Chartered Institute's policy development. It is important to make clear what can, and what can not be done. To this end it is vital to include either one or more CIEH trustees or staff at such sessions. Third, sessions should conclude with clarification of a way forward, and who will do what next. The OMF held in Northern Ireland in December was based on a round table discussion and carousel process. This was primarily to facilitate discussion on a number of topics simultaneously, which in the first instance members "self select" the one they wish to participate in. This particular event was in some ways unique, as it was specifically designed to provide input into the formulation of regional policy. However, the following guidelines have emerged from the process, which may act as a starting point for the design of further OMFs: - set a predetermined topic (or number of topics), based on any subject area, but phrased in such a way as to encourage "big" thinking; - ensure that each topic, or work group, is "facilitated" by a designated person. In the case of predetermined topics, this should ideally be someone who has experience and knowledge of that subject area who can introduce the issues and suggest areas for discussion if not readily forthcoming from the wider group; - when the topics for discussion have been identified and outlined, members should "self select" which group they wish to contribute to in the first instance. An ideal number of participants for group discussion is around six, plus facilitator, but it should be noted that groups do not have to be equal in size; - members then discuss each of the topics within each of the groups, or round tables, and the issues and actions discussed should be written up on a flipchart by the group facilitator (allow 45 minutes); - each group then visits each of the other round tables, where the facilitators will summarise the discussion that has taken place and will record any further comments (10 minutes); and finally, - the co-ordinator of the forum should summarise the session and look to the next steps. In the case of the Northern Ireland Centre OMF, a number of key issues were discussed following the structure outlined above. These included: - key policy issues for the CIEH in Northern Ireland - what do you want to see achieved and how? - local government reorganisation - what should the drivers be and what role will environmental health have to play? - professional profile - how can we improve it? Following the day's discussion, where each subject produced its own set of detailed recommendations, some broad objectives emerged. First and foremost, it was decided that as the day had been such a success, a full report of the outcomes would be sent, circulated to the membership. The need for a further report on the state of environmental health in Northern Ireland was deemed an important step, as was the need to build the profile of environmental health within the country and the need to generate a positive public image. Finally, the establishment of a working group to consider local government reorganisation was agreed upon. The concept of OMFs, coupled with the open discussion forums planned for the CIEH's website bodes well for the Chartered Institute in terms of the desire to improve the accessibility and influence that members can have on policy making. This is an opportunity for each and every member to contribute to their professional body - use it.
Gary McFarlane, head of policy, Northern Ireland

AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
When David Purchon came in to office in 1999, he said that he wanted the Chartered Institute to "find new ways to become a more open profession". Three years on, he says that he has been impatient at the slow pace of change, but admits that moves are afoot for the Chartered Institute to realise its true potential. "During my presidency, the CIEH has focused on its internal structure rather than taking advantage of the external opportunities in terms of growing the membership," he says. He cites chartered status as the first stage in making the Charted Institute a more open body. As he prepares to hand over to Brian Hanna, David remains committed to the support of potential environmental health officers, but would like to see more resources made available. "We need to be a slicker, more business like operation," he argues. "The most important customers are future members and although all our courses are soundly based, I believe that we could do more to help". At a time when there are few paid training places and little financial assistance from central government, he emphasises that students really need to be committed to qualify. "The CIEH has recognised the problem of recruiting people to courses," he says. "But we have got to continue investing in this area and ease the way of people into membership". Putting these concerns aside, he recognises that there are unique opportunities ahead for the environmental health profession, and points to a number of key lobbying priorities for the CIEH in the years ahead. "We have got to see ourselves deeply and thoroughly involved in the attempt to improve public health and reduce health inequalities. These must remain firm priorities". David notes that regional developments, such as the creation of the Welsh Assembly, and specialist agencies such as the Food Standards Agency, offer unique opportunities for the profession. He also points to key bodies like the Health and Safety Commission, the Environment Agency and Health and Development Agency with whom EHOs can work in partnership. To this, he adds the opportunities to demonstrate what sustainable development is and cites instances where the CIEH has been able to exercise important roles with the LGA, the Welsh Assembly and with certain governmental departments. He points out however, that many government departments have changed quite radically in the three years of his presidency. And because the current government has set "a cracking pace in terms of reform and radical change", the Chartered Institute has tended to be reactive rather than proactive in influencing policy. For such a small organisation, encompassing such a broad range of specialist areas, he admits it is hard to deal with so many issues. Pointing to the relevance of the environmental health profession to so many emerging issues, he concludes: "One of our difficulties is that we can always see a connection".
David Purchon, outgoing president CIEH