'Beware of cutting £200m from public health budgets'

摘要

Last week's announcement by chancellor George Osborne to shave £200m from councils' public health budgets, as part of wider £2.5bn in-year Whitehall cutbacks, would harm local authorities' ability to improve health and wellbeing, health experts have warned. The impact would 'have perverse consequences', forcing councils into short-term planning cycles for preventative services, David Buck, senior fellow, public health and inequalities for The King's Fund, told The MJ this week. In an exclusive article for The MJ's website, Mr Buck stated: 'The naivety that this will not affect NHS spending would be touching if it wasn't so damaging.' 'Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will be faced with the choice of letting this impact on health or to step in with their own funds,' Mr Buck stated. 'This cannot but impact the NHS.'