Time to read
The government has set out its strategy for prioritising prevention in the health system today.
Kat Smithson, Director of Policy and Campaigns at NAT (National AIDS Trust) said: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s aim to renew the focus on prevention within our health and care system. But, if you read between the lines, what is being described in this strategy are those very services that could and should be provided through the public health system that, at the moment, cannot meet need because it has been starved of resource.
“The ambition of this strategy cannot be reconciled with the £700 million cut to the local public health grant in this spending review period.
“We look forward to seeing more in the upcoming Green Paper on prevention – we urge the Secretary of State to use this as an opportunity to commit to, and invest in, public health services as a vital component of our health and care system that has been sidelined for too long.
“Yes, we need to focus on prevention. But, there’s an obvious solution – don’t cut the very services that do this as their bread and butter. Restore public health funding.”