Forum topic: Healthwatch Enfield writes to Government to express concern about cuts to public health

Dear Ms Ellison MP,

Concern Over Cuts to Public Health

I am writing to express Healthwatch Enfield’s concern over the potential impact on people in Enfield of both the overall planned cuts in funding for public health and also the intended distribution of those cuts.

Public health has an important role to play in improving the health and wellbeing of the whole community through a range of activities. These activities include raising people’s awareness of factors affecting their physical and mental health, creating and maintaining ‘herd immunity’, planning for emergencies, etc.

We are very concerned at the possible risks to the local population of the scale of the proposed cuts, and also the proposed distribution of these cuts, as Enfield already has a very low per capita funding rate. This is for historic reasons and does not reflect the DH’s current assessment of need in Enfield, which includes considerable deprivation, presenting considerable challenges to getting public health messages across to the local population.

Healthwatch Enfield asks that decisions on funding reflect the genuine need in the local area and that you therefore do not impose the planned severe cuts on public health in Enfield.

Yours sincerely

Deborah Fowler
Chair, Healthwatch Enfield