Over the course of 2018, FPH has been making the case for increased investment in public health services and prevention across local government and the NHS.
We see five main arguments for investing in public health and prevention:
- It will improve the health and wellbeing of our communities
- It is critical for the sustainability of the health and social care system and all public services
- As the average age of our working population rises our economic prosperity will become more and more reliant on keeping older people fitter and healthier for longer
- We need to counter the likely impact of Brexit and ensure we are ‘match-fit’ for global competition
- It is one of the best ways to help create a fairer society for future generations
We also know that in recent years the public health community hasn’t been as successful as we would want in making this case. The Government cut public health budgets significantly in the 2015 Spending Review and has so far resisted calls from across our sector for those cuts to be reversed. These cuts have consequences and, as we look to the 2019 Spending Review, we need to make sure that this time around we do an even more effective job of explaining what’s at stake and the cost-effective solutions we can offer.
We think this means developing policies that are evidence-based, economically-credible, and forward-looking. We also think this means being able to tell our story in a way that resonates better with key decision-makers and the public. This is one of the reasons why we’ve launched our #PublicHealthLooksLike photo competition – to demonstrate the value of public health in an accessible and engaging way.
We hope you enjoy reading about the campaign’s varied work programme in the sections below. We’d like to thank all of our members who have contributed already to our campaign by commenting on proposals, coming along to workshops, filling out surveys, writing blogs, taking photos, or retweeting our latest news. If you’d like to get involved in our campaign on a regular basis you can join our members’ sounding board by emailing policy@fph.org.uk.
Lisa Plotkin
Public Health Funding Campaign Lead