A review of public health in Scotland is now underway. The review defines the public health function as:
“a robust, adequately resourced system that can secure and sustain the public’s health, addressing health and associated policy issues at a population level and leading a co-ordinated effort to tackle underlying causes of poor health. For this function to be successful it needs to be delivered in partnership with individuals, communities, Scottish Government, local government, public, private and third sector organisations.”
The review was called for by Scottish Ministers in November 2015 and a panel of experts, of which VHS is a member, has been established to take it forward. An ‘Engagement Paper’ has been produced and is the basis for initial consultation with stakeholders. It asks a number of questions, including:
- How can public health in Scotland best contribute to the challenges discussed?[i]
- How do we strengthen and support partnerships to tackle the challenges and add greater value?
Stakeholders have until 12 March to feed in to the review. A VHS Round Table event is being held on 17th February to discuss the review. If you want to directly respond, you can download the Engagement Paper from the VHS website – link.
[i] For example, expanding the contribution of public health to tackling health inequalities and securing longer healthy life expectancy for Scotland’s increasingly diverse population.
Public Health Review Engagement Paper 28 January (2)
