Public Health England
Public Health England (PHE) came into being on 1 April 2013. It is an executive agency of government of the Department of Health
The bulk of PHE will comprise the Health Protection Agency (HPA), much of which will carry on its work more-or-less unchanged, under the new PHE logo. Other arms length bodies that will move into Public Health England will include:[1]
- National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA)
- Public Health Observatories
- Cancer Registries (see also Wikipedia Cancer registry page)
- Regional Public Health Groups
- Department of Health policy staff
- National Screening Committee
Contents
The significance of being an Executive Agency
It is apparently normal practice for employees of Executive Agencies to be civil servants, working to the Civil Service code.
This requires a level of secrecy which many think is incompatible with the role of a consultant, let alone a consultant in public health medicine or communicable disease control. Such professionals need to be free to speak up for the populations they serve, free from political constraint; and should have the right to participate in political activity in a way which is not permitted for civil servants.
There is a precedent for Executive Agency staff remaining on non-Civil Service Terms and Conditions: when the Regional Health Authorities were replaced by Regional Offices of the Department of Health, medical staff continued to be employed within them on NHS terms and conditions.
In 2012 it was yet whether or not all staff - or all new staff - of PHE would be civil servants.[2]
Rapid Review Panel
The Rapid Review Panel is one of Public Health England’s independent science advisory bodies. In December 2013 PHE was advertising for a new Chair and 3 members of the Rapid Review Panel. Officially its role is 'to provide a prompt assessment of new and novel equipment, materials and other products or protocols that may be of value to the NHS in improving hospital infection control and reducing hospital acquired infections'.
People
- Duncan Selbie - chief executive
External links
- Department of Health Press release about the proposed formation of PHE from November 2010[3]
Notes
- ↑ Marsland A. Public Health England (Dear Colleague Letter). London: Department of Health, 2011; 1-6
- ↑ Department of Health. Building a Public Health England People Transition Policy. London: Department of Health, 2012 (16 February); 1-29
- ↑ Department of Health. Public Health England – A new service to get people healthy (Press Release). 2010; Updated 30 November 2010; Accessed: 2012 (21 March): Press release
