RCN responds to Government update on public health

Published: 15 July 2011

Responding to the Government’s update on the White Paper on Public Health ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’, Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary said:

“The RCN welcomes the Government’s ongoing commitment to improving public health across the country. This issue is vital to the future wellbeing of the nation as well as playing a key role in reducing the financial burden on the NHS.

“While the update does acknowledge a number of issues raised by the RCN, there are still significant gaps to be filled in and we would expect more details on these. For example, we have still not received assurances on how the public health budget will be ring-fenced in practice and how it will be distributed between the many professionals involved.

“Equally, our members who work for the NHS have serious concerns about a compulsory transfer of the workforce from the NHS to local authorities. We expect that trade unions will be fully engaged as stakeholders in this process and will seek to ensure our members retain NHS pay, terms and conditions with access to an NHS pension.

“We are pleased with the acknowledgement of the key role health visitors and school nurses will play, yet believe the Government has missed a trick by not looking at how other nursing posts positively impact on public health around issues like alcohol, sexual health and travel health.

“There is an intrinsic link between public health and the NHS and it is encouraging that the White Paper does recognise this and will now actively seek to ensure critical services work together to reduce health inequalities across the country.”
-Ends -

Notes for Editors

1. For further information, interviews or illustrations please contact the RCN Media Office on 0207 647 3633, press.office@rcn.org.uk or visit  http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/media

2. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.