Website of the Department of Health

Public has its say

The White Paper, Choosing Health, was published on November 16. It follows extensive consultation with the public and stakeholders.

For the first time ever the public have set the agenda for a White Paper on health by telling the government where support is needed and where the government needs to intervene and make changes.

The changes aim to place health promotion at the heart of the NHS. This involves a big change in attitude, among NHS staff and the public, in helping people choose healthier lifestyles and giving them greater control over their health.

At the forefront of the White Paper are public health campaigns aimed at young men and women to raise awareness about the dangers of unprotected sex; and to the public in general, about obesity, smoking and alcohol.

• Sexual health

Smoking reduction

Subject to further consultation and legislation, by the end of 2008 all enclosed public places and workplaces will be smoke-free except for those specially exempted. By 2006, all government departments and the National Health Service will be smoke-free, with limited exceptions.

For smokers, there will be better access to effective help, such as NHS stop smoking services.

• Tobacco

Healthy choices

Consumers will be helped to choose healthier meals through a colour-coded system of food labelling and guidance on portion sizes while the government, working with the food industry, aims to reduce levels of salt, added sugars and fat and increase access to fruit and vegetables.

A new telephone and internet service called Health Direct will be launched in 2007, where consumers can find out confidential information about health choices.

More information about responsible drinking and the harm caused by alcohol will be printed on drink labels, and places where alcohol is sold.

• Food and Health Action Plan

Best start in life

Making sure that children have equal access to healthy living is one of the main areas of action.

Children will have their own 'personal health guides' as part of the new Child Health Promotion Programme, which will contain goals that act as the foundation for personal health guides for life.

School nursing services will be modernised and expanded. There will be better support for parents and carers, through better access to information on all aspects of growing up.

Sure Start, a programme already helping children with healthy living, will develop new projects around their development. This could include home volunteers visiting families under stress who need support.

A new magazine called FIT is being launched to get health information across to young men aged 16 to 30.

Other action targeted at schools includes the National Healthy Schools Programme, which encourages schools to foster better health; provision of free fruit and vegetables to all children aged four to six by the end of 2004; revised school meals; support for cycling to school and promoting sport in all schools, and the provision of at least 400 sport specialist schools and academies.

• Food in Schools programme

Partnerships in the community

A cornerstone of the White Paper is the promotion of joint action by local authorities with business and voluntary groups, to tackle local health inequalities and issues.

New initiatives include a pilot in 12 areas called Communities for Health, that will promote action on local priorities; Local Area Agreements in 21 areas from 2005 to secure local delivery of national priorities and new 5 A DAY initiatives in deprived communities, with more primary care trusts proving support for cookery clubs and co-operatives.

People will be able to become more active through cycling and walking initiatives and have easier access to sports facilities. For example, by 2006 local authorities are forecast to build more than 7,000 miles of new cycle lanes and tracks.

• 5 A DAY
• Local Exercise Action Pilots (LEAP)

Equal access to healthy living

A new breed of NHS trainers will be established to help anyone who wants to live a more healthy life from 2006. The trainers will be accredited by the NHS to provide information and support in their local community.

From the same date, people living in deprived areas will be encouraged to use a personal health kit to develop goals and change their eating and exercise patterns, with support from their doctor and health trainer.

For frontline NHS staff, health promotion and prevention is to become their main focus.

PCTs will be given extra funding to tackle health inequalities and improve health, especially in areas of high need. There will be new investment in primary care facilities and new tools to help PCTs and local authorities coordinate plans and check on progress.

Staff will be trained to develop their understanding and skills in promoting health while a range of community health improvement services will be expanded.

By 2008, 3,000 community matrons will be expected to take the lead in providing personalised care and health advice, with support from health trainers, for patients with long-term conditions.

Mental illness

New approaches will be developed in mental illness, for example to help people manage their own care and tackle inequalities experienced by people from ethnic minority communities.

Initiatives will challenge discrimination at work and improve access to work for people with mental illness. New guidelines are also being drawn up for the management of mental illness in the workplace.

Cycling to work will also be promoted through the workplace. Staff at government departments and in the NHS will be encouraged and supported to be more active and develop healthier workplaces. Specific campaigns will make sure all NHS buildings are smoke-free.

• Children and mental health (opens new window)
• Social exclusion (opens new window)

Full documents

• Choosing Health: White Paper
• Choosing Health: Executive Summary
• Choosing Health Summaries Pack