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Responsibility for public health services should sit with integrated care systems (ICSs) once they are given a statutory basis, says Louise Patten, the new chief executive of NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC). Ms Patten said ICSs should take on public health powers and direct commissioning of pharmacies , while larger systems should be able to commission specialised services for their region.
Ms Patten confirmed NHSCC was lobbying the government to ensure public health functions such as sexual health and smoking cessation shift to ICSs. These are currently commissioned by local authorities overseen by Public Health England, but when the national body closes in April next year it is not yet clear what will happen to these services.
Ms Patten, said ICSs need “some influence” over public health services to match the “responsibility” the shift to commissioning for health outcomes, instead of activity levels, would bring. She suggested there was “potential for joint accountability” of the service between local authorities and ICSs through new partnership boards, suggesting that it is “only a matter of time” before ICSs are put on a statutory footing.
On CCG mergers, Ms Patten said NHSCC has “felt no significant pressure” to push CCGs to accept mergers, despite news that one of the largest systems, Cheshire and Merseyside, has been told it must have a single CCG. She said this had come as a “surprise”, because NHS England’s guidance released at the start of the year suggested some systems could have more than one CCG.
Source: Health Service Journal, 3 November 2020
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Royal Navy sailors will be banned from smoking on board all vessels from the start of 2021. All branches of the UK military are to become smokefree by 2022 as part of the Smoking and Tobacco Control Strategy for Defence 2017-2022. Sailors will be allowed to vape until the end of 2022 to support them to quit.
According to Forces.net, the aim is to "minimise the negative impact of smoking on operational capability". The 2022 smoking ban will also apply to military sites and could also apply to visitors, civil servants and contractors. New recruits to the Royal Navy are advised to quit smoking.
Sailors are reported to have previously received 600 cigarettes a month as well as a daily rum ration. Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy said: "Sailors used to leave at 40 and be dead by 50 because they were so hard-living. If you smoke 600 cigarettes a month and drink half a bottle of rum every three days, what do you expect?"
Source: Daily Mail, 4 November 2020
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A statutory instrument (SI) amending existing 2019 regulations concerning tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products made in preparation for the UK's exit from the European Union was debated in the House of Lords on Monday 2nd November and in the House of Commons on Tuesday 3rd November. The amendments proposed make further changes to the way in which the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 apply in Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period.
The main changes made by the 2020 amendments debated include:
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That if a producer notifies via both the Northern Ireland and Great Britain systems, they are required to pay only one fee (given, as per the Northern Ireland Protocol, a product placed on the market in Northern Ireland will be required to continue notifying via the EU common entry gate system);
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That tobacco products sold in Northern Ireland will continue to use EU picture warnings whilst products sold in Great Britain will use Australian picture warnings on packs; and
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That the products carrying EU picture warnings placed on the market in Great Britain before 1st January 2021 are allowed to circulate until they reach the end user.
Across both debates key issues raised by Parliamentarians included:
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That while these amendments to maintain the UK’s current tobacco control regulations are welcome, further action is urgently needed to achieve the Government’s smokefree 2030 ambition;
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That a loophole in current regulations exists whereby e-cigarettes can be freely given to under 18s, despite it being illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under 18s, which must be closed;
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That there is a lack of clarity regarding where responsibilities currently held by Public Health England will sit following its disbanding from April 2021;
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That the Australian library of picture warnings contains fewer pictures. Rotating warnings on packs is important to maintain their impact and promote quitting, so the Government must review this to increase the number of warnings urgently;
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That Government responses to consultations on the regulations being amended by this SI are still overdue;
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That a review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 is due by May 2021 and a timeline for this should be published.
Source: Hansard, 2 November 2020
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