Public health must not be an afterthought in the NHS reorganisation (BMJ, 15 April 2025)

Summary

The government’s decision to abolish NHS England while simultaneously halving the operational budgets of integrated care boards is ambitious, but it lacks detail on how the plans will be implemented. The announcement coincided with evidence presented to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, showing major weaknesses in England’s public health system. Any reorganisation must strengthen the public health function in the NHS rather than further weakening it, write Chad Byworth and colleagues in this BMJ opinion piece. Structures emerging from the reorganisation must include a strong, independent public health function for the NHS that can provide high quality advice to the government, to support the health secretary’s goal of shifting from treatment to prevention.