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The Health Select Committee's report into public health waswelcomed by The Faculty of Public Health (FPH), who appreciates thereport's recommendations of addressing their main concerns on theimpact of public health in terms of the Health and Social CareBill. According to the FPH, the recommendations now have to bebacked up by their proposed amendments to the bill and are beingdebated by the Lords. This will provide the UK with a robust publichealth system that is suited for emergency purposes but also in thelong-term. The Select Committee particularly recommends that it is crucial forthe government to review its opposition to compulsory regulation ofpublic health specialists. The FDH has submitted an amendment tothat effect because the public should be able to trust those peoplewho make life-or-death decisions about their health. Members of theFPH support this regulation so that all public health specialistscan be held accountable. The following are the FPH's main areas of concern: Lawful registration for all public health specialists to ensureadequate public protection Entrenching health expertise in all commissioning, particularly inthe NHS Commissioning Board Ensuring that Directors of Public Health have the right seniorityto maximize health gains for their local communities, and providingthem with access to vital information and contacts, and Clarity in terms of who is responsible for emergency and outbreaksmanagement Lawful registration for all public health specialists to ensureadequate public protection The public is entitled to be able to trust those people who makelife-or-death decisions about their health. This could entaildeciding whether or not to immunize children, or how to managedisasters, such as flooding or a swine-flu outbreak. Thankfully, sofar no public health specialist has seriously erred in his/herjudgment, so that no unnecessary crisis has occurred, however,according to the FPH the public should not wait until such a crisisoccurs before holding all specialists to account. As part of thisregulation, the Health and Social Care Bill needs to define therole of a public health expert or consultant. This is effectivelyan extension of existing regulations for public health doctors anddentists. The NHS Commissioning Board needs at least one member who is apublic health specialist, to ensure the public's health isprotected It is absolutely crucial that public health specialists, who haveknowledge in terms of commissioning for entire populations, have aninput in national decisions regarding NHS services because the NHSCommissioning Board will be nationally accountable for the outcomesachieved by the NHS. Otherwise, the risk remains that the health ofentire communities will be put into jeopardy, in particular thosepeople who are hard to reach. Directors of public health need direct access to senior leaders Under the Health and Social Care Bill, local authorities willemploy Directors of Public Health (DPH). DPHs however requiredirect access to senior local leaders in order to drive throughpublic health gains for their community. This is one of the reasonswhy the FPH believes that DPHs must be appointed as chief officersat a corporate or strategic director level, such as that ofDirector of Adult Social Services. The other reason being that DPHsalso need to be able influence commissioning decisions made by GPsto ensure that local people receive the right services. It needs to be clear that local authorities are responsible forpublic health outbreaks or emergencies The Bill does not explicitly state that local authorities shouldbe responsible for ensuring the proper management of outbreaks andemergencies. According to the FPH, Public Health England, the NHSand local authorities should have a duty to co-operate.Clarification is therefore needed to avoid putting the public atrisk of serious harm. Written by: Petra Rattue Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Removing Iphone Screen Protector Manufacturer , China Led Flashlight Keychains, and more. For more , please visit Led Ice Bucket today!
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