Wirral Council prepares to take over public health from NHS - town hall leader writes for the Globe

in News

Wirral Council prepares to take over public health from NHS - town hall leader writes for the Globe Wirral Council prepares to take over public health from NHS - town hall leader writes for the Globe

Local government has a long history of promoting and protecting the public’s health dating back to Victorian times.

It was only after local government re-organisation in 1974 that the NHS took over most public health functions.

The Government is returning responsibility for improving public health to local councils. The switch comes into force in in two weeks' time.

The Globe invited council leader Cllr Phil Davies to explain what this major change will mean for the people of Wirral.

************************

By Cllr Phil Davies

I AM delighted that from April 1, the local responsibility for public health will transfer from the NHS to the council.

Public health is about helping people to stay healthy and avoid getting ill, so this includes work on a whole range of policy areas such as immunisation, tobacco and alcohol, drugs recovery, sexual health, pregnancy and children’s health.

The budget for public health in 2013/14 is £25.7m This transfer represents a unique opportunity to change the focus from treating sickness to actively promoting health and well-being.

Some of the most significant improvements in our health and well-being started with actions taken by councils in Victorian times - building sewers, collecting rubbish and providing clean water supplies.

It was only in 1974 that the NHS took over most public health functions.

The Government is returning responsibility for improving public health to us because of our ability to shape services to meet local needs and influence the many factors that affect our health and well-being; how much we earn, our employment opportunities and the houses we live in.

We face significant local challenges to our health and well-being.

Rising levels of obesity, misuse of alcohol, high levels of sexually transmitted infections and continuing threats from infectious disease have a heavy cost both for us as individuals and our communities.

Every day of the year the council has direct contact with large numbers of residents.

A fully-integrated public health function in the council offers exciting opportunities to make each one of these contacts count to tackle these problems.

There are already lots of good examples in the borough where we have worked closely with the public health team.

These include action to reduce the number of babies born to teenage parents, promoting breastfeeding to give our babies the best start in life; work with trading standards to tackle under age tobacco and alcohol sales; the development of fitness trails with the parks team and the promotion of warm and safe homes with the housing team.

With the transfer of the public health team from the NHS we are looking forward to consolidating this work and creating new opportunities.

Bringing public health back into local government is about building a new, locally-led 21st century public health service, focused on our citizens.

Comments(17)

uncatom says...
11:33am Mon 18 Mar 13

Another fine mess a receipe for disaster.

Report this post »

djrimmer says...
11:40am Mon 18 Mar 13

"God help us"

Report this post »

bigfoot says...
11:58am Mon 18 Mar 13

Many years ago (pre 1974)r Councils had a responsibility for public health.
The difference to now is they were honest men who knew what they were doing and had concern for their fellows,unlike today where they look out for themselves the philosophy is greed rather than need.
I share your concern Mr Rimmer!

Report this post »

MDRyUK says...
12:45pm Mon 18 Mar 13

I do not have much confidence our Council will take charge and do a very good job in terms of improving public health managing policy.

Is this what really matters?

Watch this space?

I wonder what our local GPs think about this new change in policy, particularly as the budget 2013-14 is £25.7 million. Remember in terms of providing services Wirral Council must save £42 million.

So do we really trust 'em???

Report this post »

bloodtub says...
12:51pm Mon 18 Mar 13

haven't they learnt anything with this council, they couldn't run a **** up in a brewery so god help the public health

Report this post »

David Scott says...
12:56pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Things like sewers, water and infection control are about public health, but much of what is now promoted under that label is about private health choices, and much money is wasted.

Report this post »

kitten13 says...
1:36pm Mon 18 Mar 13

So shall we expect more nurses being made redundant, as wards close, due to nobody using them, as the council are trying to save some more money? After all, prevention is better than cure, I mean, we should all know by now how to prevent skin conditions, hereditary diseases, allergies etc. Oh wait, no we don't.

Report this post »

woodyres2 says...
2:40pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Oh dear, it has taken a full year for WBC to negotiate the care home fees with the private care home owners on Wirral.

Small increases to residental & nursing care but no increase for the most poorly people in EMI nursing care. And that is on top of a 9.5% cut across the board over the last 3 years !!!

Negotiations have now started for next years care fees. If things go on the way they have been & if WBC get their way I think we will all be heading back in time & being booked into the poor house when we need care.

As someone who has contributed to this country in tax & NI payments all my life, I find it very worrying that if I need help it will not be available.

I agree with djrimmer, God help us all because WBC won't !!

Report this post »

Jimrob says...
4:00pm Mon 18 Mar 13

"The budget for public health in 2013/14 is £25.7m This transfer represents a unique opportunity to change the focus from treating sickness to actively promoting health and well-being."

That's the "Overspend" in DASS's budget taken care of for the next two years.

Report this post »

WirralAl says...
4:08pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Who in hell thought up this master plan.

I would not trust Wirral Council to run a bath.

They do not appear to give a dam about the residents of the Wirral except at election time when!

I simply cannot believe anybody could of thought this council could manage when they cannot manage to run a council.

They are clueless and have clearly demonstrated a callous attitude and a total lack of management.

Watch out for the failure and then an expensive report when they get this wrong too.

Public health should not be in the hands of dodgy local councillors

Report this post »

uncatom says...
4:08pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Might be some spare to sponsor TRFC next year

Report this post »

Positive thinker says...
5:56pm Mon 18 Mar 13

That would be a nice gesture for the council to show there support for our local TRFC or were you being sarcastic ?

Report this post »

johnhardaker says...
5:59pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Suggest the council employ Miss AKA now so when wirral & its councilors screw up as they have done with DASS/ 4 week delay/Colas/ anything else they touch, It is liking giving they keys to the Asylum because everything they seem to touch goes belly up. The only thing they seem to be good is conning wirral ratepayers out of £1.3 million in allowances & no doubt they will be rubbing their hands together to jump on the allowances bandwagon to see who will join the NHS gravy train, no doubt Phil & Steve will be at the head of the queue.
God help the wirral residents if the clowns are at the helm,remember what happened to Titanic.

Report this post »

RL 1952 says...
4:48pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Have no lessons been learnt from the various recent scndals that have happened in Wirral.
Directors, senior managers and elected councillors have proved they are totally incompetent, unreliable and in the main solely self-interested on that basis how can they be trusted with public health.
The CEO + 3 super directors salaries have added £.5million to the budget with no sign of any improvements, just total disillusionment by residents and all council staff - HOW LONG CAN THIS CARRY ON? Lets see ALL councillors allowance free for a year as a mark of their commitment and loyalty to the electorate - and pigs might fly!!!!!

Report this post »

antisthenes says...
8:04pm Tue 19 Mar 13

In his enthusiasm to big up the health renewing contribution that this council is poised to make to the good people of Wirral Davies seems to overlook the fact that this is an outworking of the Tory health 'reform' agenda that his party has vehemently opposed.

No doubt Davies critical faculties have been dulled by the prospect of appointing yet more of his servile acolytes to yet another cash cow committee.

Report this post »

Hugo1008 says...
8:22pm Tue 19 Mar 13

We may as well start White Washing the magnificent edifice that once was St Catherines Hospital, Birkenhead.

I can spell the rank smell of deep corruption and waste starting from this new building when the so called Council get into it and its huge budget.

The problem will be the GP consortium watchdogs will spend so much time watching these useless self interested cruel ruthless bunch of Council Misfits, that the whole operation will go down the pan just like the governance of Wirral Borough Council.

We are very likely not only to have the worst run Local Government Authority in the UK, but the least efficient National Health Service as well.

Report this post »

JohnON says...
9:05am Wed 20 Mar 13

No doubt we can expect £££thousands to be poured into the care of societies' miscreants and dropouts instead of it going to the less headline-grabbing care of those who've paid into the system all their working lives.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree