Health Funding Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Patel
Main Page: Lord Patel (Crossbench - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Patel's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(9 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Prior of Brampton
I will certainly have a word with my friend the Secretary of State for Health. Clearly the Government have an important role in this area; I will have a discussion with him and come back to my noble friend.
Lord Patel (CB)
My Lords, this is my first opportunity to ask the noble Lord a question and I welcome him to his new brief. If he were looking at the evidence-based delivery of services, the evidence shows that 40% of illnesses are related to lifestyle. If that is the case, why do we not have a national plan for public health and prevention of disease, rather than leaving it to local authorities, where it will vary?
Lord Prior of Brampton
The noble Lord raises an interesting point, which we may come back to in the debate later. Public health spending is divided into two: £3.2 billion is decentralised to local authorities and the remaining amount, some £2 billion, is retained by Public Health England—which does have a national plan, but it may be that the plan could be better articulated.