23.10.15
Eleven health and care CEOs urge Hunt to reverse public health cuts
Eleven prominent healthcare and local authority bodies, including the NHS Confederation and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, have penned a letter to health secretary Jeremy Hunt and the chancellor asking that the decision to slash £200m from the public health cash pot be scrapped.
The leaders said this planned cut, announced in the Summer Budget, would have a knock-on effect on the NHS as it would be left to pick up the pieces by treating preventable issues.
Many services delivered through the public health expenditure via local authorities also fund clinical NHS care, meaning cutting this fund would reduce NHS revenues. Because of this, they argued, it is misleading to suggest that the NHS budget is protected.
And they cited analysis by the Faculty of Public Health – whose president was amongst the signatories – that suggested costs to the NHS as a result of public health cuts would be in excess of £1bn – thus proving it is a false economy.
The letter added: “By reversing the proposed cuts to the public health grant, and investing in prevention and public health in the Spending Review, the government should be able to reduce the wider budget deficit, which you have suggested is the aim of the proposed cuts.
“Reversing the proposed cuts will relieve pressure on our overused NHS, tackle inequalities and improve people’s health and wellbeing.”
The NHS Confederation’s boss and one of the signees, Rob Wester, also noted separately: “There is an unprecedented consensus that we can only address problems facing the NHS if we invest in the future of our nation’s health by helping people to stay well. Open any report from any director of public health in any part of the country and you can see health inequalities and poor health putting pressure on NHS services and blighting people’s lives.
“Investing in public health is critical for achieving a sustainable NHS and for addressing inequalities across society.
“We need the upcoming Spending Review to protect public health budgets, reflecting the government’s commitment to transform and improve the way care is delivered to patients.”
To strengthen the argument, leaders writing the letter cited Hunt’s comment to the Health Select Committee on 15 September: “We have to be very careful that what we are asking for is a genuine efficiency saving and not something that actually will impact on the delivery of services.”
Co-authors of the letter already made submissions to government officials making the case for investment in this area as part of the future health and care system – but, through the letter, urged Osborne to consider their position “very seriously” and provide a clear commitment to reverse cuts.
Other signatories included the leader of the London Borough of Bexley and CEOs or chief executives of the Royal College of Nursing, Association of Directors of Public Health, the British Dental Association, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the UK Health Forum, the Local Government Association and Solace.