NHS: Shakeup of public health body delayed until after Olympics

Abolition of Health Protection Agency put off for nearly a further year due to concerns about possible emergencies The abolition of the NHS’s main public health body has been delayed nearly a year to reduce the risks of making large-scale changes around the time of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, the government said . The change came after warnings that the upheaval affecting thousands of staff could compromise emergency responses if there were serious incidents at the world’s biggest sporting event next summer. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) was due to be axed in July 2012, weeks before the games, as part of a huge shakeup in public health, but the Guardian revealed unease among its top officials at the possible impact on the public and athletes. About 17,000 athletes and officials are expected to stay in the Olympic village, east London, while several venues, for football, yachting, and rowing, are outside the capital. The risks to public health at games such as the Olympics include food poisoning and terrorism. The agency is responsible for disease control and monitoring as well as scientific and public health advice during emergencies. The agency and other bodies had been due to move into a new part of the Department of Health called Public Health England but the government last month accepted that the new organisation should be an executive agency instead, a move designed to safeguard independent scientific advice and public confidence and allow the body to raise private funds. The delay means the demise of the HPA will coincide with the abolition of primary care bodies and transfer of new public health responsibilities for local councils. A document detailing the new timetable conceded the transition “will be a complex task” affecting 9,500 staff now working for trusts or agencies such as the HPA. The document said: “Aligning the start date of Public Health England with that of the local system will create additional time to ensure we have the key elements of the new system right, and will reduce the risks of making large-scale organisational change around the time of the Olympic and Paralympic games.” Diane Abbott, Labour’s public health spokeswoman, said ministers’ original plans to abolish the agency had “caused so much chaos that they have had to go back to the drawing board”. The agency gave a low-key welcome to the changes, in particular, the moves to protect independent advice and its external income of nearly £150m a year. Olympic Games 2012 NHS Health Health policy Public services policy James Meikle guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 14, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.