For several years the government's health agenda has provided a strong directive for primary care professionals to work in a more public, health focused way. There remains, however, the constant challenge to incorporate a public health focus into existing clinical practice and caseload commitments in an achievable and manageable way, while at the same time impacting on ill health. This article explores a pragmatic public health approach to addressing some of the common health needs of people, as identified collectively in the national service frameworks for mental health, coronary heart disease, diabetes, older people and cancer. A practical example of facilitating collaborative working between disciplines and agencies is offered using the author's successful experiences form a review and modernization project of health visiting services in East Somerset (Dion, 2003).