Updated Nutritional Standards have been developed, which are designed to make the food on offer for staff and visitors in hospital restaurants, cafés and vending machines healthier. Settings such as restaurants, coffee shops and workplace canteens, including those in in the health service, can impact on the quality of the food we eat and how much we eat through the food choices they offer. safe food, The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Public Health Agency (PHA) have jointly produced Nutritional Standards in partnership with Health and Social Care colleagues, so that healthier food choices are

The Public Health Agency (PHA) is calling on the parents of 5 to 11 year olds to get their child vaccinated against COVID-19. While most children aged 5 to 11 will have mild disease if they contract COVID-19, some may experience symptoms which last longer than just a few days. Vaccination of children in this age group has been shown to help prevent the small number of hospitalisations and intensive care admissions that can occur in this age group. It has also been shown to help provide short-term protection against non-severe disease. Dr Jillian Johnston, Joint Interim Assistant Director in

No Smoking Month is just around the corner and the Public Health Agency (PHA) and Cancer Focus Northern Ireland are urging people to ‘Make March Your Month to Quit’. Colette Rogers, Strategic Lead for Tobacco Control with the PHA, said: “We are encouraging people to use No Smoking Month as an opportunity to begin their quit journey and improve their health. “With the recent introduction of new legislation to protect children from second hand smoke in cars, maybe you’ve already been thinking about trying to quit. No Smoking Month could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to set a quit

There are at least 104 research nurses and midwives across Northern Ireland working within all areas of healthcare, reveals a landmark new census initiated by a group of NIHR 70@70 Senior Nurse & Midwife Research Leaders. The census, incorporating responses from research nurses and midwives across all four UK nations and the Republic of Ireland, reveals nurses and midwives are working at every level in healthcare from Bands 5 – 9 in the UK, and from staff nurse to Directors of Nursing or Midwifery in the Republic of Ireland. This suggests there are opportunities to join the profession at every

With spring just around the corner the Public Health Agency (PHA) is reminding pregnant women about the risk of close contact with sheep during lambing season. The PHA is advising women who are, or think they may be, pregnant to reduce their risk of miscarriage and infection by avoiding close contact with sheep during lambing season, which runs from January until around the end of April. Dr Gillian Armstrong, Interim Head of Health Protection at the PHA, said: “Pregnant women who come into close contact with sheep during lambing may be risking their own health and that of their unborn child