Duncan Selbie
{{short description|British government official (born 1962)}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
Duncan Selbie (born 1962/3){{cite web | url=https://www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/interview/duncan-selbie-interview-weve-doubled-healthcare-spending-past-20-years-yet-health | title=Duncan Selbie interview: "We've doubled healthcare spending in the past 20 years, yet the health gap has not closed" |website=Civil Service World| date=24 June 2020 }} is a British government official who is a senior advisor to the Department of Health and Social Care on global and public health. He served as Chief Executive of Public Health England from its foundation in 2013{{cite web | url=https://www.england.nhs.uk/author/duncan-selbie/ | title=Duncan Selbie |website=NHS England}} until he was removed in August 2020 {{cite news |publisher=ITV}} by the Govt which in 2021 formed it into the UK Health Security Agency.{{Cite web |title=Government creates new National Institute for Health Protection |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-creates-new-national-institute-for-health-protection |access-date=2020-08-18 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}} Since December 2020, he has been president of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes.{{cite web|url =https://ianphi.org/about/executive-board.html | title = Executive board | access-date = 2022-11-27}}
Previously, from 2007 to 2012 he was Chief Executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, and earlier South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust.{{cite web | url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/duncan-selbie | title=Duncan Selbie - GOV.UK}} He joined the NHS in 1980, as a teenager.
Views
On appointment to his PHE role, Selbie said he did not claim to have deep public health experience, but did have wide experience within the NHS.{{cite journal|last1=Das|first1=Pamela|year=2013|title=Duncan Selbie: The new face of public health in England|journal=The Lancet|volume=381|issue=9873|pages=1175|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60787-4|pmid=23561989|s2cid=29486620 |doi-access=free}}
He is an advocate of local government's role in improving the public's health, saying that local experts are best placed to identify where their most vulnerable people are.
He is also reported to believe that health policy should not be viewed in a silo because economic, educational, and social factors are key to improving health inequalities. He said "Good health is about having a good place to live, with a decent home, a job and friends".{{cite web | url=http://www.local.gov.uk/first | title=First magazine}} He regards health as being “inextricably linked to work” and is reported to have said “People in work generally have better health”.{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/31/sitting-at-home-on-sickness-benefits-is-bad-for-health-damian-green | title=Sitting at home on sickness benefits is bad for health, says Green| journal=The Guardian| date=2016-10-31| last1=Editor| first1=Rowena Mason Deputy Political}}
As part of a drive to make hospitals healthier, Selbie has called for a 'tobacco-free' NHS, with a blanket ban on smoking on their grounds.{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-39094713 | title=Campaign to make NHS 'tobacco free'| journal=BBC News| date=2017-02-26}}
PHE initiatives
Public Health England recommended a range of measures to solve the problem of childhood obesity. In March 2016 when former Chancellor George Osborne announced a tax on sugary drinks Selbie said “A sugary drinks levy is fabulous news for children and families in helping them to cut back on sugar. This will reduce the risks of obesity, tooth decay and other life-threatening diseases.” {{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/16/budget-2016-george-osborne-sugar-tax-mixed-response | title=Sugar tax: Osborne's two-tier levy brings mixed response| journal=The Guardian| date=2016-03-17| last1=Campbell| first1=Denis| last2=Smithers| first2=Rebecca| last3=Butler| first3=Sarah}}
Influence
In December 2013 the Health Service Journal rated Selbie as the 33rd most powerful person in the English NHS.{{cite news|title=HSJ100 2013 The annual list of the most influential people in health|url=http://www.hsj.co.uk/leadership/hsj-100/|accessdate=14 December 2013|newspaper=Health Service Journal|date=11 December 2013}}
Pay
As of 2015, Selbie was paid a salary of between £185,000 and £189,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.{{Cite web|url = https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492289/150K_senior_salaries.csv/preview|title = Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK|date = 2015-12-17|website = www.gov.uk|access-date = 2016-03-13|archive-date = 4 May 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190504113001/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492289/150K_senior_salaries.csv/preview|url-status = dead}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.gov.uk/government/people/duncan-selbie Official biography]
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Category:Administrators in the National Health Service
Category:English healthcare chief executives