A report by the Director of Public Health informed that under the Health and Social Care Bill currently making its way through Parliament, Wirral Council would be given new statutory duties across the three ‘domains’ of public health.  These were:

·  Health improvement – including reducing lifestyle related ill-health and inequalities in health, and addressing the underlying determinants of health

·  Health protection – including ensuring that comprehensive plans are in place across the local authority, NHS and other agencies to respond to infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies

·  Health service improvement – by providing NHS Commissioners, including Clinical Commissioning Groups, with expert advice and support to improve and evaluate the quality and efficiency of health services.

Members noted that previous reports on public health reform had been brought to the Cabinet for consideration.  Further policy guidance had now been published on the new public health system which was to be in place by April 2013.  The guidance outlined the public health roles for local authorities and for the new Executive Agency – Public Health England.

The report summarised the key steps and activities that would need to be put in place to enable a successful transition of public health responsibilities from the NHS to the Council.  It also proposed that public health should start working in shadow form from April 2012, under a memorandum of agreement, so that the Council had the opportunity to understand those responsibilities in more depth, and so that public health staff could develop a good understanding of how the Council worked.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Chief Executive be instructed to work with the Director of Public Health to bring back a proposal to the Cabinet on the future structure and operation of public health within the Council;

(2)  subject to the satisfactory outcome of the consultation, the Chief Executive be requested to ensure that a Memorandum of Understanding (as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report), or other appropriate arrangements be put in place to allow the public health function to operate in shadow form during 2012/13; and

(3)  the membership and purpose for the Public Health Transition Steering Group detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be endorsed.