Promoting good health is an important investment

Public Health England and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy are collaborating to make the case that prevention and promoting good health is an important investment for our country.

Given the current climate and demands on public services and their budgets, there is a growing consensus that a stronger case needs to be made for preventative interventions, in order to compete with other priorities for valuable resources.

Evaluating preventative investments in public health in England, published by the two organisations, was developed following a series of round-table discussions with a local government and health experts, which highlighted current commissioning challenges.

It argues that, with the policy agenda focused firmly on population health, integration of services and prevention, the time to make this case is now.

Michael Brodie, PHE’s Finance and Commercial Director, insists that ‘promoting good health is an investment, not a cost’, but acknowledged that ‘the bar seems to be set higher for justifying public health investments compared to the delivery of healthcare’. PHE and CIPFA have set out to champion a common approach which views investment through the lens of the public pound in a place or locality rather than the local government pound or the NHS pound.