UK experience in application of public health competence lists; might this be relevant elsewhere in Europe?

Anders Foldspang described the development, led by ASPHER, of European lists of public health competences (1, 2).   However, other sets of competences have been in use in UK for nearly 20 years;  as far as is known, this was the first attempt to define such competences in Europe.   In the mid 1990s the Faculty of Public Health developed and used its own competence lists as a means to monitor the progress of all UK public health trainees, as they proceed through their training;  these lists have been updated at regular intervals since then (3), and a list of competences for organisations (as opposed to individuals) has also been published (4).   More recently, the four UK health departments have sponsored and financed another set of competences, the Public Health Skills and Career Framework (5);  this defines public health competences at 9 different levels of public health work, and is designed primarily to support employment.   The context and application of these 2 competences schemes will be described, especially in context of lessons learned for future application.

Now that the European lists of competences have been published, plans have been defined for future developments (6).  Firstly, ASPHER needs to support and encourage its members to use these lists (e.g. for curriculum development), and to develop the lists themselves through discussion of their application with local stakeholders.   Secondly, ASPHER needs to establish a European organisation which can take forward on a longer term basis the development and updating of competence lists, and which will publish further lists for special purposes, many yet to be defined;  this needs to be achieved with the support of the wider public health movement, and of governments, the EC, WHO, etc.   This body also seeks to promote use of competences to support various aspects of public health capacity development.