Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Editorials Election 2017

Time to put health at the heart of all policy making

BMJ 2017; 357 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j2676 (Published 02 June 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;357:j2676

Rapid Response:

Re: Time to put health at the heart of all policy making. Here is how

I have reread the editorial and all the responses. I have also reread McKee's editorial after Grenfell.

Clearly, the Chief Medical Officer is bound by the Civil Service rules and unable to achieve all she might want to. (She voiced sympathy for the junior doctors but the sympathy was ignored by tbe NHS.)

At the local authority level we do have directors of public health. They too are seldom heard by the public.

It may be that the prevailing mood of the public health specialists is: be quiet. See no evil. Hear no evil.

I suggest thst the professional bodies of these experts should resolve as follows:

It is essential for all public health personnel and indeed retired experts to speak out about any deficiencies in the provision of health services and causes thereof.

May the current silence (whether self-imposed, from fear, or from overt threats from seniors) end. The public health specialists should start speaking out.

Competing interests: No competing interests

11 July 2017
JK Anand
Retired doctor
Free spirit
Peterborough