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| Covid: Matt Hancock unveils National Institute for Health Protection | Covid: Matt Hancock unveils National Institute for Health Protection |
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| Health secretary says body will protect public against pandemics, infectious diseases and external threats | Health secretary says body will protect public against pandemics, infectious diseases and external threats |
| The government’s new public health agency will protect the public against external threats to the UK, pandemics and infectious diseases, Matt Hancock has pledged. | The government’s new public health agency will protect the public against external threats to the UK, pandemics and infectious diseases, Matt Hancock has pledged. |
| The health and social care secretary made the announcement on Tuesday as he unveiled the National Institute for Health Protection, which is being created after the controversial scrapping of Public Health England (PHE). | |
| Speaking at the Policy Exchange thinktank, Hancock said: “To give ourselves the best chance of beating this virus once and for all – and of spotting and being ready to respond to other health threats, now and in the future, we are creating a brand new organisation to provide a new approach to public health protection and resilience.” | Speaking at the Policy Exchange thinktank, Hancock said: “To give ourselves the best chance of beating this virus once and for all – and of spotting and being ready to respond to other health threats, now and in the future, we are creating a brand new organisation to provide a new approach to public health protection and resilience.” |
| He said the institute would bring together “the expertise of PHE with the enormous response capabilities of NHS test and trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre to put us in the best possible position for the next stage of the fight against Covid-19 and for the long term”. | He said the institute would bring together “the expertise of PHE with the enormous response capabilities of NHS test and trace and the Joint Biosecurity Centre to put us in the best possible position for the next stage of the fight against Covid-19 and for the long term”. |
| Hancock confirmed that Dido Harding, the current boss of NHS test and trace, would lead the new organisation in its first few months, as the Guardian had revealed earlier. Critics have questioned her suitability for the role given the test and trace operation’s poor track record in tracking down carriers of coronavirus, getting them tested and disclosing the details of their close contacts. | Hancock confirmed that Dido Harding, the current boss of NHS test and trace, would lead the new organisation in its first few months, as the Guardian had revealed earlier. Critics have questioned her suitability for the role given the test and trace operation’s poor track record in tracking down carriers of coronavirus, getting them tested and disclosing the details of their close contacts. |
| The unveiling of the institute was accompanied by continuing criticism by health experts of the government’s decision to scrap PHE, which was motivated by ministerial frustration at its performance during the pandemic. | |
| Nigel Edwards, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust thinktank, said: “The government risks making a major misstep by dismantling its own public health agency at such a crucial time, creating a huge distraction for staff who should be dedicating themselves to the next stage of the pandemic. There is no clear argument as to why this rebranding and reshuffling will solve some of the problems highlighted. | |
| “Simply dismantling and reconstituting an agency, under the direct control of the same ministers and department as previously, doesn’t seem to hold out much hope of improvement. It also raises many important questions. What exactly will happen to the many other functions of the agency beyond infection control? If Public Health England’s disease control arm has struggled at times, why should merging it with equally struggling test and trace programme lead to an improvement for either one?” | |
| Harding claimed that bringing together PHE, NHS Test and Trace and the JBC would boost Britain’s efforts to limit the damage done by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has so far resulted in more than 65,000 deaths, according to the Office of National Statistics. “[It] puts us in the strongest position to stop the spread of the virus [and is] designed to strengthen our response, and to radically ramp up our fight against this disease, whilst also protecting PHE’s essential work beyond Covid that is so important for the nation’s health.” | |
| Michael Brodie, the chief executive of the NHS Business Services Authority, has been appointed as the institute’s interim chief executive officer. But there will be “a global search” for the senior figures to lead the body in the longer term, Hancock said. | |
| However, with the new institute focusing on Covid-19 and the threat from other infectious diseases, it is unclear who will be responsible for key areas of public health work, such as efforts to keep people healthy by tackling obesity, smoking and alcohol misuse. | |
| The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that “preventing ill health and reducing health inequalities also remains a top priority”. But it appears to have no clear plan as to who in government or the public sector will undertake such work in the future. | |
| It simply said that “over the coming weeks and months the DHSC and PHE experts will engage on future options on decisions around the future of PHE’s remaining health improvement functions, including how to support a successful wider public health system to ensure we have the best possible capability and capacity to support people to improve their health”. | |
| Duncan Selbie, whose post as PHE’s chief executive is disappearing with its abolition, is taking on a new role as a senior adviser to the DHSC on global and public health. |