Despite the NHS struggling to cope with this trend in long-term illness which costs it £6bn, the Government continues to drag its feet on dealing with what is a public health crisis. Having for example transferred public health responsibility from the NHS to local government in 2013 ministers have since slashed the public health budget by £600m between 2015/16 to 2019/20. Clearly they do not value local government’s role. The trouble is ministers have come up with little alternative. After much kicking and screaming the Government this year finally introduced a sugar tax but we await further action on salt and saturated fat content and more rigorous guidelines on packaging labels and advertising.

There is a case for arguing that national legislation, such as banning smoking in public places, has much greater impact on a nation’s health than anything a cash-strapped local authority might achieve. There is however a stronger counter-argument that says health is influenced by environment, housing, employment and exercise, all of which are in local government’s remit. Certainly that was the Government’s view back in 2013. As the NHS celebrates its 70th birthday the case for prevention is stronger than ever, yet the Government’s approach is muddled.