“First, years of underfunding for Public Health England, and public health work more widely, has resulted in the UK not being properly prepared to tackle a pandemic such as COVID-19,” Hopson said. A year after responsibility for public health services was diverted from the NHS to local authorities, the BMJ shines a light on where the money is going. Council funding: MPs debate local government settlement, How cuts changed council spending, in seven charts. Years of budget cuts to public health led to the elimination of more than 55,000 positions within local health departments from 2008 through 2017, according to … £200m cuts to public health: the situation is getting serious, Public health: The vision and the challenge, An evaluation of the impact of community-based interventions on hospital use, Community health investment: Health services research in Belgium, France, Federal German Republic and the Netherlands, Nuffield Trust – Evidence for better healthcare, Health and social care finance and reform, difficulty accessing mental health services. People with an STI don’t join a waiting list they are simply turned away, back into the community, if clinicians don’t have the capacity to see them. If current trends persist, within 20 years one in 10 people will develop Type 2 diabetes. More could be done to comprehensively and effectively address childhood obesity, such as through measures to tackle the aggressive marketing of junk food – on TV and online, and through sponsorships and price promotions – to children. Health budget cuts mean fewer smokers will be persuaded to quit, warns charity. Nuffield Trust comment. The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) expresses deep concern over Government decision to cut the public health budget by £85 million. This report presents the findings of a project to evaluate the impact that a small set of community based interventions had on the rates of... Report And what exactly needs to be done to turn things around? Syphilis rates meanwhile have increased by 148% since 2008 and are at levels not seen since World War Two.Earlier this year surveys of BASHH and the British HIV Association (BHIVA) members provided new evidence of pressure on overstretched sexual health services and a sector at ‘breaking point’. Surrey County Council approves budget cuts of £82m. Investing in prevention and public health is not only good for the health of individuals: it is a core pillar of any comprehensive strategy for a financially sustainable future for the NHS. In 2018/19 around £115 billion was spent on the NHS England budget. www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/cuts-to-public-health-why-spending-less-will-cost-the-nhs-more. Last month, the government agreed new funding plans for councils in England.