Health Equity Fellowship
Health Equity Fellows work towards the ambition to equip all staff with an understanding of the action we can all take to create a more equitable health and care system.
Health Equity Fellowship Programme
We are very pleased to announce the inaugural 2024 Humber and North Yorkshire Health Equity Fellowship Programme. We are looking for 50 enthusiastic people who want to make a change and tackle inequalities in Humber and North Yorkshire.
This Programme aims to give Fellows the skills they need to improve population health and reduce health inequalities in their own organisation and across the Humber and North Yorkshire area. It is modelled on and supported by a well-recognised programme in West Yorkshire.
Fellowship expectations
The Humber and North Yorkshire Health Equity Fellowship will run between April 2024 and March 2025.
- Fellows will be expected to dedicate one day a week of their time to attend training and work on a fellowship project.
- Projects will be bespoke to the fellowship theme, criteria and a list of potential projects will be provided.
- Projects could be delivered in the applicant’s usual place of work or contribute to wider joined up or system approaches taking place across the area. Submission of an interim and final report is required as part of the program.
- Meetings and training may be face to face at a central location or virtually. Fellows are expected to attend all meetings and trainings and therefore fellows must be able to travel to meetings and will also will require a device and an internet connection.
Programme objectives
- Identify and respond to health inequity and inequalities.
- Build equity and inequalities champions across Humber and North Yorkshire.
- Create a health equity fellow peer Network.
- Share learning and best practice across Humber and North Yorkshire.
Health Equity Fellows will be working towards the ambition to equip all staff with an understanding of the individual and collective action we can take to create a more equitable health and care system.
We have set strategic ambitions to reduce health inequalities. The need for these ambitions has been reinforced by health inequalities made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent cost of living challenges faced by our population.
Addressing health inequalities requires a whole system approach from strategic planning and leadership to community level service delivery.
This fellowship programme seeks to develop colleagues across Humber and North Yorkshire who understand the foundations of health inequity and have the knowledge, skills, and courage to build more equitable organisations and communities.
Applications to join the Fellowship Programme are open from Friday, 24 November 2023 to 25th January 2024 and the course starts in April 2024.
Full details about the programme, including who can apply and how, can be found in these pages.
Fellowship timeline
| Event | Date |
| Information pack available | 17th November 2023 |
| Applications open | 24th November 2023 |
| First virtual information event | 1st December 2023. 12:30 -13:30 |
| Second virtual information event | 6th December 2023. 11:00 -12:00 |
| Applications close | 25th January 2024 |
| Recruitment Panel | 26th – 30th January 2024 |
| Notify applicants of outcome | 31st January 2024 |
| Fellowship start date | April 2024 |
Benefits of being a fellow
- Enhance knowledge, skills, and capability by delivering a fellowship project.
- Mentor support throughout your fellowship journey e.g., embedding learning and developing relationships across
Humber and North Yorkshire. - Bespoke training in your chosen area with access to materials and educational opportunities.
- Expand your professional networks through engagement with other fellows.
- Build relationships and network with different organisations across Humber and North Yorkshire.
- Exposure to experts, programmes and organisations pioneering positive change.
- Publication of fellowship projects on our website and partner websites.
- Fellows will receive a certificate from the University of Leeds which highlights learning outcomes from all sessions, plus CPD credits that you can use in personal development plans or equivalent plans in due course.
Benefits of organisations releasing people for the fellowship
Fellowships will:
- Provide the opportunity to change behaviour, empower employees, and build authentic relationships with networks and partners across Humber and North Yorkshire.
- Support professional and personal development, with no cost to the fellows organisation/employer.
- Meet the shifting needs of employees, organisations and communities/populations they serve.
- Give employees the confidence, insights, and motivation to expand or extend their work.
Fellows will:
- Gain valuable exposure and experience while learning under the guidance of mentors and experts.
- Receive guidance, institutional support, and professional development.
- Gain practical knowledge through experiential learning.
- Be a champion within the organisation to support improving population health and reducing health inequalities.
Fellows will bring back to the organisations:
- New ideas, tactics, and perspectives for improving population health and reducing health inequalities.
- Taking part in social responsibility and community engagement.
- Contribution to the future success of the organisation in a given field.
How to apply
Applications open on Friday 24th November 2023 and close on Friday 25th January 2024.
To apply send your completed statement of interest application and send to hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net
In your statement of interest, you will need to include:
- Personal information (name, contact details, current role and organisation, location and ethnicity).
- A little bit of information about you and your personal motivation for applying.
- The challenges you see in your current role and how you would seek to expand your learning and experience to address these through the fellowship.
- Relevant work, voluntary and community experience and contributions, and how this will support you in your fellowship.
- How you plan to continue to develop your knowledge and skills after completing the fellowship.
- Initial idea for a fellowship project.
- Confirmation of support from your employing organisation and your line manager.
Statement of Interest form can be downloaded here
For accessible formats of the Statement of Interest form please contact us on hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net.
Who should apply?
The Health Equity Fellowship is designed to bring together the diverse organisations and professionals that influence health and wellbeing, attracting applicants that are representative of the communities we serve.
They are open to all colleagues from all sectors, health, social care, local authority and the voluntary and community sector across Humber and North Yorkshire irrespective of your current job role, grade or profession. There are no specific educational requirements.
To apply you must:
- Be passionate about reducing health inequalities.
- Want to become a champion and achieve change.
- Be committed to the delivery of a fellowship project.
- Agree to carry out formal learning as part of the fellowship.
- Be committed to the delivery of a Health Equity Fellow project.
- Confirm prior support from your current organisation that you will have protected time to take part fully in the fellowship.
Selection criteria and process
The fellowship will develop and support fellows from across the Humber and North Yorkshire. It will equip you with the knowledge, skills, mentors, and networks to advance capability, capacity and intelligence in your chosen area, across your organisations and communities.
During the selection process we will consider:
- Demonstrated prior commitment and passion in your chosen fellowship programme
- How you will help improve outcomes for people who live and work in Humber and North Yorkshire.
Selection panels for each area will score applications against the following criteria:
- Strength of statement of interest, including your personal motivation and commitment to chosen fellowship speciality.
- How you will continue to apply learning following the fellowship in your workplace or community.
- Quality of your proposed fellowship project.
- Confirmation of support from your line manager.
We will also seek to recruit fellows that reflect a variety of professional backgrounds and are representative of the communities
we serve.
Mentoring and Project Ideas
We are also on the lookout for public health trained mentors and project ideas for the next cohort of fellows. As a mentor, you’ll provide support and guidance for fellows during their time on the programme from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. You’ll also help them to refine, deliver and evaluate their chosen project. Please fill the Mentoring Brief form and email to hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net.
We are also looking for project ideas for future fellows. If you have a project idea for a fellow, please fill in the proposal document and attach and return it to hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q&A sessions
Two Q&A sessions have been arranged on 1st December 12:30-13:30 and 6th December 11:00-12:00. The sessions are designed for anyone who is interested to learn more about the Health Equity Fellowship programme, including those who would like to become a Health Equity Fellow, mentors as well as managers and employers.
Please email hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net to request a link to these sessions.
Is the fellowship open to volunteers?
Yes, we welcome applications from all partners from voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations.
How did it work for VCSE colleagues last year?
West Yorkshire has had a number of VCSE partners who applied and completed the programme successfully. You can see some of the project case studies on Improving Population Health Projects.
Can I apply if I run my own project and don’t have a line manager?
Yes, just sign the application on behalf of yourself.
I can’t find the application, where is it located?
Statement of interest forms can be found here
Why is the scheme only offering a limited number of places to participants?
We are limited by training place numbers, mentors and supervisory capacity, so we have based place numbers around the
current capacity.
From previous experience, material is not always accessible. Will the fellowships provide adjustments and accessible information?
By law, we have to produce accessible versions of all information and publications. If you apply and need additional support, then we will make sure we can do what we can to meet your needs.
The training providers are also committed to accommodating any accessibility requirements and specific needs that you have.
We will discuss this in advance, so we understand what is required.
Please contact: hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net if you have any queries regarding this.
Does the programme provide funding for backfill?
Not for statutory organisations. Funding may be available to support applications from the voluntary community social enterprise sector to backfill time for successful applicants.
Who would fund any required project costs?
Additional funding is not currently available to cover fellowship projects. When agreeing projects, we will take resource into consideration and where this may come from.
Many projects will have to be cost neutral or reinvestment projects or will need to have the caveat that we, you know, this might be something we need to do or should be done, but we need to find the resource to go with it.
Are the costs to cover the fellowship day per week paid for by the scheme or the department/organisation the fellow has come from?
All salary costs would come from the employing organisation. As a result, all applicants will need to agree this in advance with your employing organisation and line manager.
What are the costs associated with the fellowship?
There is no cost required to be a fellow or for any of the support and training provided. The costs for your organisation will be related to releasing you for one day a week to undertake the programme, project, and training. We do encourage fellows to link their fellowship to their areas of work, this potentially would mean all stakeholders benefit from the fellowship. Travel to and from meetings is at the fellow’s expense.
How much time will the fellowship take?
The fellowship will run for 12 months. You will need to spend one day a week on fellowship training and on delivering a fellowship project.
Is it confirmed what day fellows need to take and does it have to be on a day I would be employed on by my employer?
Days will on the whole be flexible. For dates that are set, we’ll give you notice in advance. It does not have to be an employed day.
What constitutes one day a week?
7.5 hours is a working day.
How many cohorts are you planning?
This is the first cohort of the Health Equity Fellowship in Humber and North Yorkshire. We are building on the success of the fellowship in the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, launching our own programme using this learning. We hope to have more cohorts going forwards.
How will you incorporate people working part time?
There is an expectation for all fellows to undertake a fellowship project as part of the programme, regardless of whether you work full or part time. However, if you have any specific requirements, we will discuss these with you and how that fits in with your working day.
What is the project population focus?
Projects can focus on any population you choose or work with. We are happy to help successful applicants work through projects. Applicants are welcome to test out any project ideas with us.
Will you publish and share learning and information from projects?
Yes, we will publish projects on our websites and evaluate the fellowship.
Should projects be at organisational level or departmental level?
Projects can focus on any level/part of an organisation.
Do I have a say in which project to take part in?
Yes, you will be asked for your project ideas in your application. We will support you to refine and develop your project once selected to the scheme.
Would there be a possibility to publish projects e.g., as a journal article if my employer is willing to pay the costs?
Yes. Projects will also be published on the Humber and North Yorkshire Health Equality fellowship page and may also form part of case study evaluations and short films.
How often will I meet with my mentor?
We would expect you meet once a month, but you can meet more frequently if both you both choose.
Will there be any report writing in the project?
As part of your fellowship project, we expect fellows to complete an interim report halfway through the fellowship and a final report at the end. Your mentor will assist you with these reports, provide feedback and we will provide guidelines. There is flexibility if a written report is not for you.
What is the Foundation Programme in Public Health?
The Foundation Programme in Public Health, is a training suite, designed by the Yorkshire and Humber School of Public Health. Its purpose is to help health and social care colleagues improve their knowledge and understanding of health inequalities to better support population health initiatives. The programme is split into level 1 and level 2. Both levels consist of four, three-hour training session. Level 1 is mandatory as part of the Fellowship; level 2 is optional.
Benefits of the programme include:
- Foundation level knowledge and understanding of health inequalities.
- Improved understanding of how current specialisms can be reoriented to address health inequalities.
- Improved understanding of how emerging population health policies can address health inequalities.
- Improved understanding of how system-wide working can address health inequalities.
- Improvement in the overall number, quality and impact of health promotion, protection, or prevention initiatives.
What does the Public Health course work look like?
It is compulsory for fellows to take part in the level 1 Foundation in Public Health course which covers key topics and ideas. This training will help with the development of fellowship projects. There are four, three hours training sessions in total; covering a range of public health skills. Training sessions will include teaching, but you will also be expected to participate in group work as well in every session. Fellows that do not attend a minimum of three of the four sessions will not complete the fellowship. Participants who attend all four public health training sessions, will receive a certificate from the University of Leeds which highlights learning outcomes from all sessions, plus CPD credits that you can use in personal development plans or equivalent plans in due course.
Will there be any other training outside of the Foundation Programme sessions?
Yes, we welcome requests for any other training you think might help with your project and learning.
All Fellows will also have the option of attending trauma-informed training from Dr Warren Larkin as part of the fellowship programme.
If you have any more questions or queries regarding the fellowship programme, please contact
hnyicb-ery.populationhealthandprevention@nhs.net
