GCPH seminar series 3: - Prof David Hunter - 'The Crisis of Confidence in Public Health Policy and Practice: the Search for a New Paradigm'

Public health is facing a cruel paradox. On the one hand, concern about the public's health has never been higher and issues like obesity, alcohol misuse, growing inequalities in health, and environmental degradation compete for attention on the policy agenda. On the other hand, there is widespread dismay over the means available to address these complex public health challenges. Either they seem inadequate for the task or they are poorly implemented. Whether it is the workforce charged with health improvement and its fitness for purpose, the slender finances available for public health causes, the weak incentive structure to bring about the shift from sickness to health, or the ethical tension between the nanny state and the individual in making lifestyle choices, those engaged in improving the public's health have arguably never worked in such a fraught and confused environment. In this seminar Prof Hunter explored whether we need a new approach to health leadership and governance in order to provide public health policy with a new sense of purpose and the means to succeed. Does the political will exist to undertake the necessary action? Or is the ‘culture of contentment’ too entrenched to bring about the necessary paradigm shift?