Key policies - England (Department of Health)
The NHS White Paper, Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS (July 2010) sets out the Government's long-term vision for the future of the NHS. Further details are available from the Department of Health website.
Healthy lives, healthy people White Paper: Our strategy for public health in England
Published: 30 November 2010
The 98-page White Paper sets out the Government’s long-term vision for the future of public health in England. The aim is to create a ‘wellness’ service (Public Health England) and to strengthen both national and local leadership. The full text can be read on the Department of Health Website.
The development of the White paper has been informed by evidence presented in a second publication, which appeared on the same day. Our Health and Well-Being Today aims to set out the state of the nation’s health and wellbeing in 2010. The full text can be read on the Department of Health Website.
The UKPHR's response to the White Paper may be read here.
The FPH's press statement on the White Paper may be accessed here.
To get the details of the new system right and ensure that it delivers significant improvements to the health of the population, the Department of Health will be consulting on some elements. The consultation on these questions closes on 8 March 2011.
Key website: The Department of Health
Post-2010 strategic review of health inequalities (the Marmot Review)
On 6 November 2008, the Secretary of State for Health announced that Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Chair of the WHO Commission for Social Determinants, will lead a post-2010 strategic review of health inequalities. The review will be wide ranging and will require the Department of Health leadership across government to develop a joint approach to tackling health inequalities. Local government, the NHS, health and social care system and local community organisations will also be important partners with whom we will need to engage with to help us meet our challenge post-2010, as well as the advice of many experts to help shape our thinking.
Transforming Community Services: Ambition, Action, Achievement (June 2009)
These are six best practice guidance notes for how to bring health improvement into everybody's work. All have a focus on improving services for promoting health, reducing inequalities and improving care. They lay out actions that can be taken in each area and how improvements will be measured.
Tackling Health Inequalities: 10 years on (May 2009)
This report reviews developments in health inequalities over the last 10 years across government - from the publication of the Acheson report on health inequalities in November 1998 to the announcement of the post-2010 strategic review of health inequalities in November 2008. It covers developments across government on the wider social determinants of health, and the role of the NHS. It provides an assessment of developments against the Acheson report, reviews a range of key data sets covering social, economic, health and environmental indicators, and considers lessons learned and challenges for the future.
Health Inequalities: progress and Next Steps (June 2008)
This document outlines the Government's approach to hit the 2010 health inequalities Public Service Agreement targets, assessing what has and has not worked, and setting the direction of travel beyond 2010. The partial equality impact assessment sets out some of the current health inequalities and potential interventions to reduce and eliminate these inequalities.
The Public Health Skills and Career Framework (April 2008)
A coherent, flexible public health career framework has been developed for use across the UK. For the first time public health competences, underpinning knowledge, training and qualification routes, registration requirements and a database of job descriptions across nine career levels are being brought together in a user friendly format. The aim is to create a framework that can be used as a route map for careers in public health regardless of starting and intended end points.
World Class Commissioning: Competencies (December 2007) and Vision (December 2007)
World class commissioning is a statement of intent, aimed at delivering outstanding performance in the way we commission health and care services in the NHS. The vision and competencies describe what this shift towards world class will involve, and the organisational competencies that primary care trusts will need.
The Commissioning Framework for Health and Well-being (March 2007)
The Commissioning framework for health and well-being sets out the eight steps that health and social care should take in partnership to commission more effectively. It is aimed at commissioners and providers of services in health, social care and local authorities. It is part of the White Paper Our health our care our say implementation.
Securing Good Health for the Whole Population: Final report (February 2004) (Wanless Report)
In April 2003, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Health asked Derek Wanless, ex-Group Chief Executive of NatWest, to provide an update of the challenges in implementing the fully engaged scenario set out in his report on long-term health trends. This is the final report produced by Derek Wanless. This report provides an update of the challenges in implementing the fully engaged scenario set out in the 2002 Wanless report on long-term health trends.