Reforming the public health system for the challenges of our times

Since 2013, national responsibilities for health security and health improvement have sat together within a single body, Public Health England (PHE).

These proposals place health security and health improvement into two distinct areas:

• the new UK Health Security Agency [UKHSA] – its primary concern will be protecting against infectious diseases and external health threats.
• the creation of the Office of Health Promotion, one of the new successor organisations to Public Health England. The new office will be formed within the Department for Health and Social Care, as opposed to being a separate agency, as was the case with Public Health England.

These system reforms aim to transform national health protection and capabilities, place prevention at the heart of government, and more deeply embed prevention and health improvement expertise, capacity and accountability across local and national government and the NHS.

The government will set out more detail on the system reforms and its plans for improving the public’s health later in 2021. Individuals and organisations are asked to help in designing the system by filling out this survey by 26 April 2021.

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