By Royal Society for Public Health (2014)
This report is based on a survey of public health professionals working in local authorities and it found the majority believe health decisions are being made based on politics rather than evidence. It also found that the public health workforce perceives that budgets which are meant to be reserved for public health initiatives are not being ring fenced in practice. Nearly three quarters of respondents also suggested that financial restrictions are impacting upon their team’s ability to deliver health improvement initiatives. Respondants expressed mixed views regarding the role of health and wellbeing boards which have been set up as a forum to discuss local needs and influence commissioning decisions.