Statement: Response to The Department of Health and Social Care’s legislative proposals for a Health and Care Bill

The proposals recognise the strong collaboration already happening between Directors of Public Health in local government and the NHS; and provide an opportunity to strengthen these relationships in the future. 

By embedding the roles and responsibilities of all partners, ICSs can develop common agendas that focus not just on integrated treatment services and secondary prevention through the NHS but also drive improvements in the underlying health and wellbeing of people and communities which councils champion. The success of this will depend on the NHS and local councils being equal partners.

However, there is limited focus in the white paper on the health inequalities that have been exposed and exacerbated by COVID-19. We need a renewed urgency to address these inequalities, which means valuing, funding and resourcing place-based public health leadership as a key part of reforms to the public health system.