Wed, 05 Mar 2008
Health education charity DPP to shut down due to Department of Health funding refusal
Health education charity DPP: Developing Patient Partnerships is being forced to close it’s doors depriving patients and the public of the independent, unbiased health education they so desperately need. Today’s announcement (5 March 2008) comes as a direct result of the Department of Health’s refusal to provide the health education charity with funding beyond April 2008.DPP Chair, Dr David Wrigley says: “It is with deep regret that we have been forced to make this decision. For over a decade DPP has fought to keep health education and self care at the top of the agenda. How ironic that now, just as the Prime Minister has announced that Government will increasingly need to shift focus and resources to the prevention and early identification of health problems, DPP is forced to close. By the Prime Minister’s own admission, achieving this shift in focus means ‘There will be a stronger need for professionals and users to better collaborate, particularly on issues such as obesity, as well as to improve long term outcomes on education and other services; and people will increasingly expect to be kept well informed and involved’.
“How can it be right to force closure on the very charity that is continually delivering the information, advice and signposting to the support needed for every citizen in the country so that they can make effective use of public services, especially the NHS?
“As pioneers in developing health education messages that resonate with patients and the public DPP has developed scores of national campaigns spanning a range of topic areas from public health issues, like obesity, and self care of long term conditions to keeping your GP appointment – and has always been a step ahead with a focus on self care and using health services responsibly. Many innovative and popular resources were devised and distributed by DPP to help patients look after themselves. DPP’s Health at Work programme will also be an immense loss to the many employers who have benefited from getting DPP resources and health messages to their employees across the country in order to improve their health and stay in work.”
Commenting on the impending closure, Dr Michael Dixon, NHS Alliance chairman said: “The closure of DPP will be a huge loss to patient focused health education. It has been a pioneer in encouraging professionals and patients to work together and in developing self help. The practice of healthcare is the better for the lessons it has taught. The NHS owes it a great deal.”
Centrica Group Health Services Manager, Tricia O’Neil commented: “Centrica has been developing a wellness strategy in recent years as part of our occupational health programme. DPP has provided expert advice to support this work and it’s credible and high quality materials have enabled us to effect a significant positive change in employee health and wellbeing. Losing this resource is untimely and it will be difficult to replace such a reliable source as DPP to support our strategy on wellbeing.”
Sara Richards, Specialist Primary Care Nurse and former Chair of the RCN Practice Nurse Association from Berkshire said: “I believe passionately that patients need access to health information to help them to be in control of their own health. With so little quality independent information out there, I am at a loss to see how the Government can allow a hugely valuable organisation such as the DPP to close.”
DPP was established in 1997 and will close on 31 August 2008. The last DPP’s event will be a conference entitled “Who is driving health education?: Examining the vested interests that are influencing our health behaviour” which will be held on 19 June 2008 in London. The conference will showcase DPP’s experience of creating independent health education materials and programmes. It also aims to raise awareness of the importance of health education and expose its lack of focus and investment in the UK. For more information about the conference, contact DPP on contacts below.
ENDS
For further information or to book an interview, please contact:
Pamela Prentice, 020 7383 6144, pprentice@bma.org.uk or Kristin McCarthy, 0207383 6803, kmccarthy@bma.org.uk.
Notes for editors
DPP: Developing Patient Partnerships (formerly Doctor Patient Partnership) is a health education charity working with primary care organisations, businesses and the public. For more information see www.dpp.org.uk and www.dpphealthatwork.org.uk.,
DPP Trustees:
Joe Corkill, Lay Person
Alan Hartley, Joint DPP Chair. Lay person and former head of Association of Community Health Councils in England and Wales
Dr Surendra Kumar, GP
Peter Lapsley, Former Chief Exec, Skin Care Campaign
Dr Beth McCarron-Nash, GP
Gopa Mitra, Head of Communications, Proprietary Association of Great Britain
Julia Murphy, Practice Nurse
Sara Richards, Specialist Primary Care Nurse
Sue Sharpe, Chief Executive, Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee
Linda Smith, Lay Person
Dr David Wrigley, Joint DPP Chair & GP
- In February 2008
- the Prime Minister’s made a speech on Realising Britain’s Potential: Future Strategic Challenges for Britain
- when he included the policy intent that ‘to improve public services Government needs to work closely with public service staff and citizens to: identify mechanisms for shifting resources into prevention and earlier interventions
- including the funding and incentive mechanisms for bringing this aboutdevelop strategy for delivering a step change in public service outcomes
- productivity and value for money while also maintaining affordability to the taxpayersupporting and encouraging people to collaborate with services to meet their own needs
- eg managing long term conditions.