Health Secretary Matt Hancock is set to scrap Public Health England (PHE) – the body that was tasked with preparing the UK for a pandemic – according to the Sunday Telegraph. The paper reports it will be replaced by the National Institute for Health Protection. Its remit will include pandemic planning and oversight of the NHS Test and Trace programme.
The government is moving quickly, with plans to overthrow PHE and have the new body up and running by September. The timeline of a potential resurgence of Covid-19 this autumn is firmly in mind.
PHE, a seven-year-old quango, has faced waves of criticism during the Covid crisis. Its focus on international work and lifestyle issues – instead of pandemic planning – has left little doubt that the UK could have been better prepared and better stocked when the virus hit.
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