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The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has published a new White Paper on public health services, which details a strategy that aims to tackle the challenges of premature death and illness, along with health inequalities. Healthy lives, healthy people sets out how funding from the overall NHS budget will be ring-fenced for spending on public health.¹

Under the proposals, a new integrated public health system—Public Health England—will be responsible for the protected money and will fund those services that contribute to health and wellbeing in a way that ensures the needs of the whole population are taken into account. Public Health England will have three principal routes for funding services. By:¹

• commissioning and/or providing services directly (i.e. controlling population-wide issues at a national level, such as pandemic influenza)
• asking the NHS Commissioning Board (NHSCB) to commission services (such as screening services) and other relevant elements of the GP contract
• providing local authorities with their own ring-fenced budgets to commission the majority of public services.

So what is the proposed role of GPs and GP consortia? As primary care healthcare professionals, GPs already play a critical role in primary and secondary prevention, and this will continue. As NHS commissioners, GP consortia will have responsibility for the whole population in their area, and it is envisaged that the NHSCB and Public Health England will work together to encourage GP consortia to maximise their impact on improving population health. As a further incentive for GP-led activity, it is proposed that a sum equivalent to 15% of the current value of the QOF should be devoted to evidence-based public-health and primary prevention initiatives from 2013.

Announcing the new White Paper, Andrew Lansley said: 'Everyone should have services tailored for them, at the right times in their life from the professionals closest to them. With local authorities in the driving seat, supported by the latest evidence on behaviour change from Public Health England, we will start seeing significant improvements in the nation's health.'

The Healthy lives, healthy people consultation is under way and the deadline for receiving answers to the consultation questions is Tuesday 8 March 2011. See: consultations.dh.gov.uk/healthy-people/healthy-people for further information.

Julia Morris, Editor
julia.morris@mgp.ltd.uk

References

1. Department of Health. Healthy lives, healthy people. London: DH, 2010. Available at: www.dh.gov.uk G