MINISTERS have been accused of trying to distract attention from their handling of the coronavirus pandemic by dismantling Public Health England (PHE).

According to The Sunday Telegraph, PHE will merge with NHS Test and Trace to form a body designed to deal with pandemics.

It comes amid repeated reports ministers have been frustrated with PHE, with Boris Johnson complaining of the country’s “sluggish” response to Covid-19 – a comment widely believed to have been aimed at the organisation.

But scientists and NHS staff have said that if the Government is unhappy with PHE, they only have themselves to blame.

Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, representing NHS trusts, said “years of underfunding” for PHE and public health more generally have left the country unprepared to deal with a pandemic.

He said unlike other health bodies such as NHS England, PHE – which replaced the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in 2013 under the Conservatives’ NHS reorganisation – is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, meaning it is under Government control.

“This gives ministers direct control of its activities,” he said.

“So while it might be convenient to seek to blame PHE’s leadership team, it is important that the Government reflect on its responsibilities as well.”

His comments were echoed by Dr Amitava Banerjee, associate professor at the Institute of Health Informatics, University College London, who said the move is a “huge concern” in the midst of a global health crisis.

“If PHE has fallen short, responsibility lies firmly with the current Government and health ministers,” he said.

“Rather than a rash restructuring, a sensible approach must involve a rapid enquiry to establish lessons learned for future waves and future pandemics.”

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, British Medical Association council chairman, said: “We already have public health expertise in this country which is of the highest quality but despite the hard work of our colleagues in the last six months, substantial budget cuts and fragmentation of these services over years have hampered the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We must absolutely not allow PHE and its staff to shoulder the blame for wider failings and Government decisions.

“With more than 1000 new UK cases of Covid-19 being recorded for the fifth day in a row, we must seriously question whether now is the right time for undertaking such a seemingly major restructure and detract from the very immediate need to respond to the pandemic.”

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Health Secretary Matt Hancock will announce a new Institute for Health Protection to become “effective” from next month.