Prevention, collaboration and innovation
Shaping the future of public health was the theme of the recent annual public health conference organised by the LGA, the Association of Directors of Public Health, and the Faculty of Public Health – and it couldn’t have been more prescient.
We ran nine bitesize webinars on a huge variety of topics, with more than 1,100 people signing up to join.
I was delighted to be able to open the conference and welcome our keynote speaker, Labour’s Shadow Public Health Minister Preet Kaur Gill MP, who envisioned health in 2040.
Other sessions ranged from projecting patterns of health in 2040, to the powers and perils of artificial intelligence.
We also heard from Daisy Cooper MP, Deputy Leader and Health and Social Care Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, who presented on transforming the nation’s health.
So… what next?
We know that health challenges persist in 2024: life expectancy is stagnating, inequalities are widening, there’s a resurgence in Victorian diseases, and we’ve seen sustained increases in economic inactivity because of ill health.
Yet, among these trials, lies an opportunity to redefine the narrative of public health.
The future of public health rests upon a foundation of collaboration and innovation. It is a future where local communities are empowered to drive change and where prevention takes precedence over cure.
If we are to make a reality of this vision, it will require significant progress across six key areas.
First, health is more than just health care.
The role of councils in tackling the causes of poor health is crucial, particularly given the strong focus on place and cross-sectoral working, which local government is set up to deliver.
Second – restore public health funding. An increased focus on prevention through an uplift to the public health grant is needed, as well as a wider review of the adequacy of public health funding. This will support wider national aims by improving health outcomes and reducing health spending.
Third, we would like to see the introduction of a Community Transformation Fund.
Providing additional financial support is challenging, especially given the financial pressures across the public sector.
However, without some double-running of additional resources for prevention, we won’t see the radical step change required to reduce impacts on the NHS and adult social care.
Fourth, adopt a system-wide approach. It is difficult for councils to build a business case to invest their scarce resources in initiatives where the financial benefits accrue to other agencies, such as the NHS or the benefits system.
Next, address perverse incentives. The healthcare system rewards hospitals for dealing with the very complications we are trying to avoid by increasing budgets, or offering performance payments for treatment services at the expense of investing in prevention and early intervention.
Finally, we need a greater understanding of what we spend on prevention across the system, and an aspiration about what the percentage of total government spend needs to be to improve health and care.
Future generations count, and we can – and we should – make their lives better.
Presentations from the public health conference are available on the LGA’s website.