National Institute for Health Protection

The NIHP reports directly to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.[1] It was established on 18 August 2020 as a single leadership structure bringing together Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace and the analytical capability of the Joint Biosecurity Centre.[1] Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the statutory formalisation and operation of the new organisation is expected from spring 2021.[1]

Baroness Harding is the interim executive chair of the new organisation.[2][3] Lady Harding has been serving as Chairwoman of NHS Improvement since 2017 and is head of the NHS Test and Trace programme, established in May 2020. She is a former Chief Executive of the TalkTalk Group.[4][5] She sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Conservative Party and is married to Conservative Party Member of Parliament John Penrose.[6] During questioning by the Science and Technology Committee of the House of Commons, Harding said she held the interim leadership while a full application process was carried out.[7]

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock said that the NIHP would learn from South Korea and from Germany's Robert Koch Institute "where their health protection agencies have a huge, primary, focus on pandemic response".[5][3]

The Telegraph first leaked news of the plans for the new agency on 16 August 2020. They claimed that Public Health England was to be "scrapped" and replaced by a single body combining it with NHS Test and Trace, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] A leaked memo to staff written by the head of Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, said that the aim of the new body was to boost expertise with "much needed new investment".[9][10] Selbie apologised to staff that the news of the organisation's demise was briefed to The Telegraph before they were told.[11]

A BMJ editorial described the move as "extremely foolhardy". It characterised the National Institute for Health Protection as "seem[ing] remarkably similar to the Health Protection Agency abolished in 2013."[12] An editorial in The Spectator welcomed the return to an organisation similar in remit to the that agency; it criticised Public Health England's focus on health improvement topics such as obesity and binge drinking, arguing that these should now be tackled by local NHS health teams.[13] The Telegraph welcomed the change, characterising PHE as the quango "responsible for many critical failures over the course of this [COVID-19] pandemic" that had to be scrapped.[14]

More than 70 health organisations wrote to the government on 2 September 2020 to express concern about the future of health improvement work under these changes.[15]

The appointment of Lady Harding as interim executive chair of the new body was criticised by health experts as she did not have a background in health, and because of her political position.[4][16][17] The Guardian quoted allies of hers who, in response, said that she had quickly learned after being appointed Chair of NHS Improvement in 2017 and that she had a record of "getting things done" while working in business.[4]

The timing of the reorganisation, during the ongoing pandemic response, was criticised by various health experts and other bodies,[18] including the editorial in the BMJ,[12] the Institute for Government,[19] the King's Fund,[20] and Christina Marriott, the Chief Executive of the Royal Society for Public Health.[5] An editorial in The Guardian compared it to "reorganising a fire brigade as it tries to put out a blaze" and said the decision had been made without proper consultation or scrutiny.[21]

• September 2020 UK Government Policy Paper setting out the responsibilities of the NIHP