Highlights from Matt Hancock’s speech to Policy Exchange, 18 August 2020
Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMVwycS5y4w
Full transcript here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-future-of-public-health
Press release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-creates-new-national-institute-for-health-protection
- Matt Hancock commends the exceptional work of the public health services during the Coronavirus pandemic however acknowledges that the UK did not have the capacity to response to the threat. The changes he describes are designed to strengthen public health in the UK going forward.
- From today (18 August) Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace and the analytical capability of the Joint Biosecurity Centre will form the new National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP)
- The mission of NIHP will be “protecting people to external threats to this country’s health” to give “a stronger and more joined up response”
- “Dedicated to the investigation and prevention of infectious diseases and external health threats.”
- NIHP will bring together infrastructure around science, response and analytics.
- NIHP will report directly to Ministers, support the clinical leadership of the four CMOs of the devolved countries and work closely with local PH Directors and their teams. “More than the sum of the parts”
- A consultation will be held around how to embed health improvement more widely (ie the other functions of PHE around health improvement eg obesity strategy).
- Response – pull together operational capabilities to the COVID-19 response
- Resilience and preparedness for the next emergency. Including disease control infrastructure around intelligence, data analytics and surveillance andwork fast at scale.
- Working culture – expertise in an open, non hierarchical infrastructure and culture. Culture of collaboration and change, shunning bureaucracy. Bring together academia, private companies and the NHS.
- NIHP local health protection teams to deal with infections and other threats
- support and resources for local authorities to manage local outbreaks
- the COVID-19 testing programme
- contact tracing
- the Joint Biosecurity Centre
- emergency response and preparedness to deal with the most severe incidents at national and local level
- research and reference laboratories and associated services
- specialist epidemiology and surveillance of all infectious diseases
- the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards
- global health security
- providing specialistic scientific advice on immunisation and countermeasures
- Baroness Dido Harding, (who ran NHS Test and Trace) will be interim chair of NIHP
- Duncan Selbie (Former Chief Executive PHE) is to support PHE and NIHP through the transition and continue work behalf of the UK overseas (?)
- Michael Brodie – interim Chief Executive of PHE during transition (formerly Chief Executive Officer, NHS Business Services Authority ; prior to that Finance and Commercial Director at Public Health England.
