Public Health - White Paper Consultation

Introduction

The White Paper,  titled Healthy Lives, Healthy People was published on 30th November 2010 with two supporting documents:

• Review of the Regulation of Public Health Professionals
• Our Health and Wellbeing Today -  a review of the evidence of the health and wellbeing of people in England.

Subsequently, two further documents linked to Healthy Lives, Healthy People were published:

• Transparency in Outcomes – proposals for a public health outcomes framework. Published 20 December 2010
• Consultation of the funding and commissioning routes for public health. Published 21 December 2011.

The formal consultation period for these documents has now ended. Although there was no specific formal consultation for the Review of Regulation of Public Health Professionals, views were requested as part of the White Paper Consultation.

Healthy Lives, Healthy People - Summary

Healthy Lives, Healthy People outlines the proposed shift in approach to tackling the public health challenges in England.  The paper responds to Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s Fair Society Healthy Lives report and adopts the proposed life course approach to tackling the wider social determinants of health.

The paper proposes a radical new approach  to:

• protect the population from health threats

• empower local leadership and encourage wide responsibility across society to improve everyone’s health and wellbeing

• focus on key outcomes with transparency of accountability through a new public health outcomes framework

• reflect the government’s core values of freedom, fairness and responsibility by:

  • strengthening self esteem, confidence and personal responsibility

  • positively promoting healthy lifestyles

  • adapting the environment to make healthy choices easier

  • balance the freedom of individuals and organisations with the need to avoid harm to others using a ladder of interventions to determine the least intrusive approach necessary to achieve desired effect and aim to make voluntary approaches work before resorting to regulation

 The approach is intended to be:

•  responsive - owned by communities and shaped by their needs

• resourced - ring fenced public health budget

• rigorous - professionally led, evidence based, efficient and effective

• resilient - strengthening protection against current and future health threats

 The detail of the proposals is contained in five sections:

•  Seizing opportunities for better health

• A radical new approach

• Health and wellbeing throughout life

• A new public health system with strong local and national leadership

• Making it happen

A more detailed briefing and links to all the papers are provided below.

Downloadable Documents

White Paper - Funding and Commissioning Routes

White Paper - Healthy Lives Healthy People

White Paper - Public Health Outcomes Framework

White Paper - Regulating the Workforce

White Paper - Regional Director Presentation