Responding to the risk of reducing resources: development of a framework for future change programmes in English environmental health services

Environmental Health Services in the UK have been subject to significant resource reduction from 2010 to 2018. It is suggested that services risk becoming unsustainable unless efficient and effective ways of working are employed. This research explored the experience of practitioners who are developing and delivering evolving Environmental Health Services in English local authorities in the context of deep cutting budget reductions. A range of ‘non-traditional’ service delivery models has been examined including outsourcing, shared services, regional delivery models and mutualisation arrangements. The models were at various stages of development from planning through to full transformation. Interviews were carried out with the participants involved in the change process to capture their experience of change and the impact on service delivery. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2014 and 2016. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts identified six central themes of the experience of change: ‘Managing changes effectively’; ‘Understanding the reasons for change’; ‘Understanding the nature of Environmental Health’; ‘Meaningful consultation’; ‘Viability of the proposal’; And ‘Planning and timeliness’. Further analysis of the data developed seven overarching themes: ‘Ethos of public services’, ‘Getting it right’, ‘Emerging service demands’, ‘Resilience’, ‘Trust’, ‘Skills development’ and ‘Risk’. A framework for future change programmes in Environmental Health Services has been developed which takes into account the lessons learnt by organisations that have previously undergone significant change in their response to the risk of a reducing resource. Environmental Health Services undergoing transformation will benefit from using this framework to examine their own organisation when they are establishing the need for change, making decisions, planning and transition. Use of this framework can mitigate against risks of unsustainable or undeliverable Environmental Health Services

Responding to the risk of reducing resources: development of a framework for future change programmes in environmental health services

Environmental Health services in the UK have been subject to significant resource reduction over the last 5 years. It is suggested that services risk becoming unsustainable unless efficient and effective ways of working are employed. With this in mind this paper presents the findings of research into the experience of practitioners who are developing and delivering evolving Environmental Health services in English local authorities in the context of deep cutting budget reductions. The research explores the experience of change and identifies lessons learnt in the development and execution of new models of Environmental Health service delivery to mitigate against risks of unsustainable or undeliverable services. Interviews were carried out with the participants to capture their experience of change and the impact on service delivery. A range of service delivery models have been examined including outsourcing, shared services, regional delivery models and discussion of mutual arrangements and at various stages of development from planning through to full transformation. Field work was undertaken between 2014 and 2016. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts has identified six emergent themes of the experience of change: managing changes effectively; understanding the reasons for change; understanding the nature of Environmental Health; meaningful consultation; viability of the proposal; planning and timeliness. Environmental Health services undergoing transformation may benefit from taking into account the lessons learnt by organisations that have previously undergone significant change in their response to the risk of a reducing resource. Keywords: Environmental Health; austerity; regulation; emerging risk; outsourcing; managing change

Responding to the risk of reducing resource: a study of the evolution of English environmental health services

Environmental Health services in the UK have been subject to significant resource reduction over the last 3 years. It is suggested that services risk becoming unsustainable unless efficient and effective ways of working are employed. With this in mind this paper presents the findings of research into the experience of practitioners who are developing and delivering evolving environmental health services in English local authorities in the context of deep cutting budget reductions. The research aims to explore the experience of change and identify lessons learnt in the development and execution of new models of environmental health service delivery to mitigate against risks of unsustainable or undeliverable services. Participants were chosen from a range of local authority officers, managers, commissioners and leading members of the professional body who have been closely involved in the planning and delivery stages of environmental health service changes. Interviews were carried out with the participants to capture their experience of change and the impact on service delivery. A range of service delivery models have been examined including outsourcing, shared services, regional delivery models and discussion of mutual arrangements and at various stages of development from planning through to full transformation. Field work was undertaken between June 2014 and November 2015. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts has identified six emergent themes of the experience of change: managing changes effectively; understanding the reasons for change; understanding the nature of environmental health; meaningful consultation; viability of the proposal; planning and timeliness. Environmental health services undergoing transformation may benefit from taking into account the lessons learnt by organisations that have previously undergone significant change in their response to the risk of a reducing resource. The emergent themes are being developed to provide a framework of lessons learnt for environmental health services to consider when making changes to their model of service delivery

A non-equilibrium ortho-to-para ratio of water in the Orion PDR

The ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) of H$_2$O is thought to be sensitive to the temperature of water formation. The OPR of H$_2$O is thus useful to study the formation mechanism of water. We investigate the OPR of water in the Orion PDR (Photon-dominated region), at the Orion Bar and Orion S positions, using data from {\it Herschel}/HIFI. We detect the ground-state lines of ortho- and para-H$_2$$^{18}$O in the Orion Bar and Orion S and we estimate the column densities using LTE and non-LTE methods. Based on our calculations, the ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) in the Orion Bar is 0.1 $-$ 0.5, which is unexpectedly low given the gas temperature of $\sim$ 85 K, and also lower than the values measured for other interstellar clouds and protoplanetary disks. Toward Orion S, our OPR estimate is below 2. This low OPR at 2 positions in the Orion PDR is inconsistent with gas phase formation and with thermal evaporation from dust grains, but it may be explained by photodesorption

Emergency first responders and professional wellbeing: a qualitative systematic review

Emergency first responders (EFRs) such as police officers, firefighters, paramedics and logistics personnel often suffer high turnover due to work-related stress, high workloads, fatigue, and declining professional wellbeing. As attempts to counter this through resilience programmes tend to have limited success, there is a need for further research into how organisational policies could change to improve EFRs’ professional wellbeing. Aim: To identify the factors that may contribute to or affect EFRs’ professional wellbeing. Methods: A systematic literature review has been carried out. Three databases (Science Direct, ProQuest, and PubMed) were searched using keywords developed based on the PICo (population, interest, and context) framework. A total of 984 articles were extracted. These were then critically appraised for the quality of the evidence presented, leading to a total of five being ultimately included for review. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that although EFRs may be exposed daily to traumatic events, factors that contribute to a decline in professional wellbeing emerge from within the organisational environment, rather than from the event itself. Conclusion: The study concludes that organisational and team relations factors significantly impact EFRs ability to cope with stress. As such, organisational policy should evolve to emphasise team relations over resilience programmes

Physical and chemical differentiation of the luminous star-forming region W49A - Results from the JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey

The massive and luminous star-forming region W49A is a well known Galactic candidate to probe the physical conditions and chemistry similar to those expected in external starburst galaxies. We aim to probe the physical and chemical structure of W49A on a spatial scale of ~0.8 pc based on the JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey, which covers the frequency range between 330 and 373 GHz. The wide 2x2 arcminutes field and the high spectral resolution of the HARP instrument on JCMT provides information on the spatial structure and kinematics of the cloud. For species where multiple transitions are available, we estimate excitation temperatures and column densities. We detected 255 transitions corresponding to 60 species in the 330-373 GHz range at the center position of W49A. Excitation conditions can be probed for 16 molecules. The chemical composition suggests the importance of shock-, PDR-, and hot core chemistry. Many molecular lines show a significant spatial extent across the maps including high density tracers (e.g. HCN, HNC, CS, HCO+) and tracers of UV-irradiation (e.g. CN and C2H). Large variations are seen between the sub-regions with mostly blue-shifted emission toward the Eastern tail, mostly red-shifted emission toward the Northern clump, and emission peaking around the expected source velocity toward the South-west clump. A comparison of column density ratios of characteristic species observed toward W49A to Galactic PDRs suggests that while the chemistry toward the W49A center is driven by a combination of UV-irradiation and shocks, UV-irradiation dominates for the Northern Clump, Eastern tail, and South-west clump regions. A comparison to a starburst galaxy and an AGN suggests similar C2H, CN, and H2CO abundances (with respect to the dense gas tracer 34CS) between the ~0.8 pc scale probed for W49A and the >1 kpc regions in external galaxies with global star-formation.Comment: Proposed for acceptance in A&A, abstract abridge

Ionization toward the high-mass star-forming region NGC 6334 I

Context. Ionization plays a central role in the gas-phase chemistry of molecular clouds. Since ions are coupled with magnetic fields, which can in turn counteract gravitational collapse, it is of paramount importance to measure their abundance in star-forming regions. Aims. We use spectral line observations of the high-mass star-forming region NGC 6334 I to derive the abundance of two of the most abundant molecular ions, HCO+ and N2H+, and consequently, the cosmic ray ionization rate. In addition, the line profiles provide information about the kinematics of this region. Methods. We present high-resolution spectral line observations conducted with the HIFI instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory of the rotational transitions with Jup > 5 of the molecular species C17O, C18O, HCO+, H13CO+, and N2H+. Results. The HCO+ and N2H+ line profiles display a redshifted asymmetry consistent with a region of expanding gas. We identify two emission components in the spectra, each with a different excitation, associated with the envelope of NGC 6334 I. The physical parameters obtained for the envelope are in agreement with previous models of the radial structure of NGC 6334 I based on submillimeter continuum observations. Based on our new Herschel/HIFI observations, combined with the predictions from a chemical model, we derive a cosmic ray ionization rate that is an order of magnitude higher than the canonical value of 10^(-17) s-1. Conclusions. We find evidence of an expansion of the envelope surrounding the hot core of NGC 6334 I, which is mainly driven by thermal pressure from the hot ionized gas in the region. The ionization rate seems to be dominated by cosmic rays originating from outside the source, although X-ray emission from the NGC 6334 I core could contribute to the ionization in the inner part of the envelope.Comment: This paper contains a total of 10 figures and 3 table