The NHS Confederation believes much more debate is needed on preventative health services. Since the year 2000, there has been an unprecedented Government emphasis on public health intervention and we agree that preventing ill-health is essential to the sustainability and productivity of the health service. However we need to explore in far more detail exactly how this can happen.
Major developments over the past few years include the Wanless report which looked at the cost-effectiveness of public health intervention, the 'Choosing Health' white paper which aimed to make healthy choices easier and the 'Our health, our care, our say' white paper which placed a duty of well-being on local authorities and emphasised a holistic approach with health, social services, housing, employment and education agencies working closely together.
We are concerned however that in an environment of deficits and a predicted freeze on huge NHS budget increases, prevention and demand management are being heralded as potential saviours of the health service. We need to look far more closely at these assumptions. The Confederation is particularly concerned that there is a lack of strategy, support and resource for public health planning and that there is an unhelpful media fixation with drugs and treatment.
The NHS Confederation is looking at the leadership, partnership working and strategies needed to deliver a preventive health service against a backdrop of reconfiguration and a potential loss of localism. Other work includes guidance negotiated by NHS Employers on the employment of public health directors.
We actively work with the primary care trust members through the PCT Network to capture ideas on the future of public health. We hold specific seminars and meetings to inform our policy positions- invitations either appear in our email bulletin Interchange Alert or are sent out individually. We have regular meetings bringing together key stakeholders with NHS Confederation members. To become involved in our work programme on public health please contact Sarah Campbell.
The NHS Confederation is a member of the non-government organisation forum, an official Government initiative sponsored by the Department of Health and managed by the Health Development Agency. The forum supports engagement between Government and non-governmental organisations on health inequalities and wider public health issues. For further information please visit the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health.
In consultation with our members we responded to the Government's paper on the smoke-free elements of the Health Improvement and Protection Bill.
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Last reviewed 21 Nov 2007