CoR - UK Public health

Central

UK Central Government is responsible for:

general policy guidelines, legislative framework and setting of overall policy objectives for public health
legislation on and implementation of public health policy for England
public health education in England.
Public Health England, which is in charge of specific aspects and programmes of health education and disease prevention
the National Health Service, which is a publicly funded healthcare system.

Regional

The Scottish Parliament, through the Scottish Government, is responsible for:

NHS Scotland
primary health policy
health education in Scotland
the administration of health services and hospitals.

The Welsh Government is responsible for:

NHS Wales
the promotion of health
the prevention, treatment and alleviation of disease, illness, injury, disability and mental disorder
the control of disease
family planning
the provision of health services, including medical, dental, ophthalmic, pharmaceutical and ancillary services and facilities
clinical governance and standards of healthcare
the organisation and funding of the national health service.

The Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for:

Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSC), an equivalent of, and sometimes called, the NHS
health policy
health education
the administration of health services and hospitals
the non-departmental and public body in charge of health promotion programmes.

Local

A number of NHS Health Agencies provide coordination between single and two-tier authorities in England, and across municipalities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There are fourteen regional NHS Boards and seven Special NHS Boards in Scotland and seven Local Health Boards in Wales.

Local authorities, in partnership with hospitals, are responsible for:

promoting public health
public healthcare provision
healthcare for the elderly, children and disabled people.

Local authorities take part in public health education and preventive care with respect to specific public health issues (cancer, AIDS, etc.).

In 2013, Primary Care Trusts were replaced by general practice-led organisations called Clinical Commissioning Groups. NHS England oversees the NHS from the Department of Health and Social Care, which has been associated with a perception of increased privatisation of the NHS.

In Scotland, legislation to implement health and social care integration was passed by the Scottish Parliament in February 2014, and came into force on 1 April 2016. This amalgamated NHS and local authority services under one partnership arrangement, with 31 integration authorities now responsible for £8.5 billion of health and social care resources.[1]

Responsible ministries/bodies

UK Department of Health and Social Care

NHS England

NHS Scotland

NHS Wales

Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (aka NHS Northern Ireland)

There are various Health Agencies that work at an intermediary level between the regional and local authorities for the purposes of coordination.

[1] Scottish Government, Health and social care integration, https://www.gov.scot/policies/social-care/health-and-social-care-integration/.

Sources

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS England

NHS Scotland