A Powerful Public Health Protection System

A Powerful Public Health Protection System

Due to the coronavirus, public health bodies have also become much more prominent, as well as the NHS. I was pleased to see last week that the government announced the creation of a National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP), bringing together the expertise of Public Health England with the enormous response capabilities of NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre, to ensure the control of infectious diseases and deal with pandemics, both now and in the future.

This pandemic has been an unprecedented challenge for our health system, and I think it vital that we give ourselves the best chance of beating this virus once and for all.  I really welcome this brand-new approach to public health that will put us in the best possible position for the next stage of the fight against coronavirus as well as for the long term.

The NIHP will begin work immediately, bringing together Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre under a single command structure.  Its primary focus is to ensure we have the capability to control infectious diseases and deal with pandemics and health protection crises.  This new body will work with local government and the NHS to ensure we have the strongest possible health protection system.  Public health budgets are seeing real time increases, ensuring that local authorities can continue to provide prevention and public health interventions.

Our NHS is being protected so that it is there for people when we need it, with the highest ever government spending, with more doctors and nurses than ever before.  We’ve seen the building of new hospitals and a huge increase in the number of ventilators.  Our brilliant NHS and care workers have received over 2.7 billion items of personal protective equipment (PPE) to 58,000 health and care settings during this pandemic.  Our testing rate is now among the best in the world, equivalent to one test for every five people in the country.  We are leading the world in the development of a vaccine, backing two of the leading coronavirus vaccine programmes right here in Britain.

 

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

26th August 2020

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