Health unions jointly criticise government plans to scrap Public Health England

Trade unions and professional organisations representing health workers have come together to criticise government plans to abolish Public Health England that they say risk the independence of the UK’s health system.

The government last month announced plans to replace PHE with a new body, the National Institute for Healthcare Protection (NIHP), which is set to be chaired by NHS Test and Trace head and Tory peer Dido Harding.

Labour described the move as a “desperate attempt to shift the blame after years of cutting public health budgets”. Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth said the reorganisation was “time consuming”, “energy sapping”, “risky” and “irresponsible”.

11 organisations involved in the healthcare sector – including Unite, the British Medical Association, UNISON, the Federation of Clinical Scientists and the Royal College of Nursing – have now also jointly criticised the overhaul.

In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the groups have said the government decision was made “without properly consulting expert staff” and “without a clear plan for the future of large swathes of PHE”.

They have asked the government for a “binding commitment” to ensure the independence of the new NIHP body and protect the ability of public health professionals to “speak truth to power and to the public”.

The trade unions and professional associations are also calling for an “open and transparent consultation process” on the transition from PHE to NIHP, which should be “marked by a commitment to collaborate” with them.

Jackie Williams, Unite national officer for health, said: “Unite is the lead union for staff at PHE and we have already stated that we believe that PHE was being lined up as the fall guy for ministers’ bungling over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“There has been a complete lack of consultation with expert stakeholders and the unions representing the staff about the future functions of PHE at a time when the country is still in the middle of a global pandemic.

“The dire situation is compounded by Tory peer Dido Harding being parachuted in to run the NIHP with no apparent qualifications for the job.”

Harding has been the subject of ongoing controversy during the pandemic after she was made head of the government’s highly criticised test and trace programme despite having no experience working in healthcare.

The Unite officer added: “The NIHP needs to be fully resourced and independent with the ability to speak ‘truth to power’ on the key public health issues of the day. Unite is also calling for the swingeing cuts to PHE’s budget over recent years to be restored.”

Labour has asked for more clarity on who will be responsible for key public health services – delivering the obesity strategy, screening, immunisation, mental health, sexual health, smoking cessation and addiction services – once PHE is scrapped.

Commenting on his own letter to Hancock at the time, Jonathan Ashworth said: “Years of public health cuts and wider austerity has left us with pernicious health inequalities contributing to us having a tragically high excess death rate…

“We’re calling on the government to invest in public health services and locally led public testing and tracing, rather than squandering vital time on a top down reorganisation with more cash going to private contractors and outsourcing companies.”

Recent data has showed that just 60% of people who had been exposed to someone with coronavirus were contacted by Serco, one of the outsourcing companies, compared to 80% being reached by local public health teams.