In 2014 we stated that a pressing imperative was to stop the raids on public health budgets and that a rapid review of the current public health capacity and future needs of local government was required. In the same year, NHS England’s Five Year Forward View recognised the enormous burden facing the NHS and emphasised the important roles that public health needed to play in the future. The report quite rightly stated that:
“The future health of millions of children, the sustainability of the NHS, and the economic prosperity of Britain all now depend on a radical upgrade in prevention and public health.”
Iacobuccis investigation recently reported in the BMJ is very timely as The Commons Health Committee is now reviewing public health: delivery; effectiveness; workforce capacity; and spending. The BMJ investigation that used freedom of information requests to find extensive cuts to front line services will add further weight to the evidence that has so far been assembled by the Committee.
We strongly believe that our current and future public health challenges require an “industrial scale” upgrade both at national and local levels.
Full article in BMJ 20 January 2016