Public health services get £200m funding boost after decade of decline
The government has announced an extra £200m in funding for local public health services in England for the next financial year as a key part of its plan to shift the focus “from hospital to community and from sickness to prevention.” Healthcare think tanks and public health chiefs broadly welcomed the move but said there was a long way to go to reverse a decade of neglect of public health services. The Public Health Grant, which funds health services and other interventions by local authorities, such as sexual health clinics, smoking cessation programmes, addiction recovery, family and school nurses, and local health protection services, will rise to £3.9bn, a 5.4% uplift on last year’s funding. The government said the increase, 3% in real …
