Responding to the Health and Social Care Secretary’s announcement at the LGA/ADPH Public Health conference this morning of the new UK Health Security Agency, Cllr Ian Hudspeth, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said;
“Public health teams in councils have been at the forefront of the tremendous local response to the pandemic and we look forward to working with the new UK Health Security Agency.
“We have learnt that responding to and recovering from an outbreak of this scale should start at the local level, working closely with national agencies.
“The UKHSA needs to be able to operate nationally as a global player to major health threats. This needs to be aligned with councils’ ability to react swiftly on the ground, using their local knowledge, expertise and skills.
“It is vitally important that we clearly define the role and accountability of each, as well as devolve more leadership, control and resources to councils.
“Health inequalities between the most and least deprived have been exacerbated by the pandemic, so any future model for health protection needs to be intrinsically linked with health improvement, if we are to realise real improvements for our residents.”
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