Speaking at the 2019 Jephcott Lecture at the Royal
Society of Medicine on Thursday 6 June, Health and Social
Care Secretary confirmed that the
departmental review found that local authorities
take an active and efficient approach to commissioning
services. He also praised local councils for their work
in commissioning public health services and confirmed
they will continue to lead on this important work.
He acknowledged that many local authorities have taken
steps to improve and modernise the services they
commission, including through digital delivery, such as
online STI testing.
He also set out further recommendations from the review,
including a shift towards councils working jointly
with the NHS to co-commission services specifically for
sexual health.
As part of the NHS Long Term Plan,
the government committed to reviewing commissioning
arrangements for some local authority-commissioned public
health services.
The Department of Health and Social Care will be seeking
views in a forthcoming prevention green paper about how
action can be taken forward.
Speaking at the Jephcott Lecture, , Health and Social
Care Secretary, said:
Day in, day out, local authorities continue to provide
excellent public health services. Whether that’s local
action to reduce HIV transmissions or experimenting
with innovative ways to reach people for sexual health
services – such as offering online access to testing
for thousands of people.
We are committed to supporting and
encouraging joined-up commissioning of these
services by local government and the NHS.
Our prevention green paper, which we will publish soon,
will give people an opportunity to let us know their
views on how we achieve this and build on the excellent
local practice happening across the country.
Duncan Selbie, Chief Executive of Public Health England,
said:
This review recognises that local government are best
placed to lead on commissioning local public health
services and the invaluable skill and expertise they
bring to this.
The best services are always those commissioned
collaboratively with the NHS and this review emphasises
the importance of this for every part of England, as
does the NHS Long Term Plan, including making the best
use of shared resources.
