Winchester & Chandler’s Ford MP, Steve Brine, told the Health Secretary he must be bold when it comes to prevention during a Commons debate today.
Speaking as the Government unveiled plans to for the future of Health & Care, Mr Brine said Matt Hancock must think workforce at every stage of the reforms but, above all, shift the emphasis to preventing ill health.
“We must ensure prevention is the golden thread which runs through all future legislation and plans”, he said, and reminded his former boss of the work they did together on the Prevention Green Paper.
The MP told the House of Commons; “I welcome the white paper but given how the last 12 months has laid bare the impact of inequalities on our public health outcomes, we need to be really bold when it comes to facing down the obesity crisis, smoking prevalence, alcoholism, diabetes and stroke prevention.”
The Health Secretary responded saying; “Yes, there are measures in this white paper that preciously pick up the work of the prevention green paper that he did so much in shaping when he was in the department with me and in fact, many of the proposals in this white paper are built from conversations that he and I shared and I want to put on the record my gratitude to the work that my honourable friend did in shaping this agenda.
“Ultimately a population health agenda is an agenda about the prevention of ill and health, of course we must and will treat those who become ill, but it is far better for everybody to support people, to take a shared responsibility including their own personal responsibility to stay healthy in the first place.
“The population health agenda which will be at the heart of the integrated care systems, is ultimately a preventative agenda and one that I’m very glad to hear he supports so wholeheartedly.”
Steve Brine served as Public Health Minister form 2017-2019.
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