Hancock to scrap Public Health England

[Fambo Number Mive]

The Metro got this story from the Telegraph, which lives up the government's arse, so who knows.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock is set to scrap Public Health England and replace it with a new German-style pandemic response agency. It comes after growing frustration over how the health body has handled the coronavirus crisis, including a faulty methodology for counting fatalities which inflated the national death toll. However some have accused ministers of trying to 'deflect responsibility' of their own 'shambolic management'.

Hancock is set to announce merger of PHE's pandemic response work with NHS test and trace into a new organisation called the National Institute for Health Protection, the Telegraph reports. The new agency is thought to be based on Germany's Robert Koch Institute, while inspiration has also been taken from South Korea's response to the pandemic. It is understood the Health Secretary wanted to allow enough time for the merger to be completed ahead of a potential surge of infections in autumn.

A source said the body will 'be in place by September'. The body's new chief executive will report to Hancock and England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, giving ministers direct control over how it handles the health crisis.

I mean maybe this is good news - the government finally learning from countries which handled the pandemic much better than we did. I don't trust Hancock though. IDS is very happy, which is also concerning, as he's usually wrong about things. I can't help agreeing with those who feel that this is ministers trying to deflect responsibility from the mistakes they have made.

The best way to improve the handling of the pandemic would be for the Tory Party not to be in charge of the country.

https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/15/matt-hancock-scrap-failing-public-health-england-13134454/

[Zetetic]

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