The Health Protection Foundation Course is a suite of four structured, three-hour online sessions designed for public health practitioners who are not currently working in health protection roles. It provides foundational knowledge across core areas of health protection.
The programme is based on the Public Health Knowledge and Skills Framework, the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) Practioner competencies and informed by the UKPHR generalist competencies and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) core principles of public health.
The sessions are consistent, competency-aligned knowledge for public health professionals working in Local, Regional Government settings, the NHS, and national bodies.
The programme comprises:
Session 1: Communicable Disease Prevention and Control
Session 2: Communicable Disease Prevention and Control
Session 3: Immunisation and Screening
Session 4: Incident Management, Preparedness and Response
Parts 1 and 2 form the foundation of the programme and must be booked and completed together before taking Part 3 or Part 4. Once you have completed Parts 1 and 2, you can choose to take Part 3, Part 4 or both. Completing all four parts provides the full benefit of the programme.
The programme has been developed by five experienced public health specialists with backgrounds in UKHSA, Public Health England, the Health Protection Agency, the NHS and local government, with academic leadership provided by London South Bank University.
About this course - Session 1 & 2
Communicable Disease Prevention and Control provides a paired introduction to health protection across two three-hour online sessions, delivered on separate days.
You will begin to develop your knowledge and understanding of communicable diseases, including what causes them and how they are transmitted. The course also introduces frameworks used by health protection specialists to understand, prevent and manage communicable disease.
Booking: Parts 1 and 2 are offered as one course and must be booked and completed together. They must be completed before taking Part 3 or Part 4 of the programme.
