Public Health England’s axing leaves many questions unanswered – coherent health protection strategy must drive what happens next

Commenting on the reports surrounding the abolition of Public Health England with certain pandemic response responsibilities transferring to a new body called the National Institute for Health Protection, Nick Ville, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: “Our health protection response to the pandemic has not covered itself in glory at times, with the sudden end to community testing for coronavirus in the early stages being one of its key failures.