Throughout the current pandemic, the public health workforce have acted with upmost professionalism; committed to protecting the health of the populations they serve at national regional and local level, delivering exceptional work in the most pressurised of circumstances.

With a huge strain already placed upon the public health system by Covid-19, this decision, and the nature of its announcement will cause further stress and uncertainty to the public health workforce in England and across the UK.

It is vital that successful aspects of PHE’s response to Covid-19 are retained and strengthened, that the invaluable expertise of those working within PHE is not lost, and that public health leaders are at the centre of shaping the forthcoming reforms to public health, remembering that PHE holds a wide range of responsibilities aside from pandemic response in communicable disease and other areas of public health.

FPH, ADPH and other stakeholders have recently issued a guiding principles document for effective management of Covid-19 at a local level, emphasising the importance of local and national public health systems working in congruence.

As we await further clarity from Government regarding the future of PHE; FPH, ADPH and RSPH thank the public health workforce for their continued dedication to the populations they serve as pressures upon them continue.

Further statements will follow as we learn more of the forthcoming reforms.