Port of Tyne Health
Port Health Services at the Port of Tyne are delivered by the Tyne Port Health Authority, a joint board constituted by the Tyne Port Health Authority Order 2010. The Authority is assigned a range of Public Health statutory duties that are largely regulatory and cover controls over infectious disease, imported food and pollution controls and crew welfare and wellbeing.
North Tyneside Council has representation on an operational board from each of the four riparian authorities: North Tyneside, Newcastle, Gateshead, and South Tyneside. Each authority contributes in part to the funding of the port health services.
Regional centres are now making quarterly submissions of port health action plans to the UKHSA national team. This includes proposed actions around:
- Clarifying the role of the port medical officer
- Ensuring there are regular meetings of all key port health stakeholders.
- Ensuring port health plans are regularly updated and appropriately exercised.
- Exploring the roll out of RING cards to assist port border staff with passenger assessment.
- Undertaking local planning for implementation of new high consequence infectious disease (HCID) guidance
The operational activities routinely carried out by Port Health Officers include:
- Routine boarding of vessels: 71 vessels were boarded in 2022 with 22 ship sanitation certificates issued. Routine checks on the vessels’ previous ports of call and ships’ sanitation certification status. In addition to spot checks on galley hygiene, port health officers will verify that there are sufficient food supplies provided for planned voyages. Declaration of Health were required of all vessels entering the port and were reviewed prior to boarding.
- Ships Inspections: All vessels require ship sanitation inspections every six months. These certificates ensure ship masters maintain good system to protect crew and visitors’ health and wellbeing. Ship Sanitation Control Exemption Certificates are issued when no evidence of a public health risk is found on board and ship is free of infection and contamination. A Ship Sanitation Control Certificate is issued when evidence of a public health risk, including sources of infection and contamination, is detected on board. 22 Exemption Certificates were issued during 2022. There were no conditions found on inspections warranting the issue of control certificates.
- Food and Water Sampling: Ships inspections are supplemented by routine microbiological sampling of food and drinking water. 230 water samples were made of 50 vessels and 32 water hydrants. Of the 230 samples of drinking water taken from ships water distribution systems or hydrants supplying ships there were 13 failures where remedial action was taken.
- Imported Food Controls: Over 1620 consignments of food from third countries requiring port health checks arrived in the port in 2022. The port is designated to carry out official control on food not of animal origin. In 2020 59 documentary checks were made. Additional imported food checks will now be required of European foods based on risk.