Public health services transfer to council

From 1 April, the responsibility for delivering public health will transfer from from Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust to Rochdale Borough Council.

This latest development in public health delivery is not unprecedented; local government has a long history of promoting and protecting the public’s health.

During the Victorian era, local councils were at the forefront of delivering significant improvements in public health and well-being, from ensuring a plentiful supply of clean drinking water and building sewers, to collecting rubbish and improving the quality of local housing.

“The priorities in public health we face today in Rochdale Borough may not be familiar to earlier health pioneers, but they are by no means less challenging,” says Dr Jane Rossini, Joint Director of Public Health for NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

“Cancer and heart disease are two of the biggest killers here in Rochdale Borough. Rising levels of obesity, smoking, misuse of alcohol and continuing threats from infectious disease all carry a heavy cost for us as individuals and as communities. The challenge today is not to treat the illness or the symptoms of a long term condition but rather to actively promote health and well-being. We are talking prevention rather than cure.”