Public health medicine and the district health authority

The 1991 National Health service reforms have greatly changed the role of district health authorities. These bodies employ most public health physicians in England and thus the focus of public health departments has changed with the reforms. Presents the results of a series of semi-structured interviews with the board members of two health authorities about the role of public health. Board members outlined several roles for the specialty including defining key issues, interpreting technical issues, intelligence gathering, developing links with clinicians and legitimizing health authority decisions. There were some concerns about the corporacy of public health departments. There was a great deal of support for health promotion, but some reluctance to be drawn into political issues. Also explored were alternative sources of advice on health policy, such as the views of general practitioners.