Thread by @ADMBriggs

Matt Hancock speaking at #LGAPublicHealth21.

The language has officially changed from health protection to health security - with the launch of the UK Health Security Agency, or UKHSA.

Will cover pandemic prevention and response, communicable disease, and external threats.

Chief Exec will be Dr Jenny Harries (Dep CMO with hugely impressive public health background)
Chair is Ian Peters, current Chair of @NHSBartsHealth

The challenge (as ever) will be maintaining interest and funding for the agency in between crises.

Stresses importance of relationships with DsPH, although no mention yet of local PHE Health Protection Teams who have also been critical in local response as well.

Lots of discussion also about the role of Integrated Care Systems putting the weight of the NHS budget behind the prevention agenda.

I suspect there will be many suggesting that it might be nice to also put some more weight behind local gov and local gov public health budgets.

Health inequalities not mentioned in the speech - we know how COVID has dramatically exposed and exacerbated inequalities.

This picked up by Cllr Ian Hudspeth, highlighting the critical importance of addressing inequalities, and the role of local gov in addressing these.

And the 'health promotion' aspects of PHE to come in the coming days.

This will include health improvement, health care PH, academic PH + hopefully the inequalities functions of PHE. And in questions this suggests it may be departmental, not arms length/independent. TBC.

Asked about whether should increase local authority PH grant. The answer was essentially, no.

And am v nervous about the rhetoric of separating health 'security' from 'promotion'. The pandemic has shown how they are intricately linked and relationships need to be strengthened.

It will be very helpful to see detail of both over the coming few days.