Workforce inequalities and wider disparities in health are impactful on their own, but when coupled with a pandemic, the stakes are even higher. The excess deaths in the Black, Asian and minority ethnic community, and in more deprived areas highlight that these issues need to be addressed with care and an interactive and holistic approach.
As the future of public health and the 'National Institute for Health Protection' emerges, it is more important than ever to take a look back at our starting position. The new institute needs to ensure that the balance between national and local action is right, with more focus on delivering services collaboratively at place level.
England needs to commit to learning from the economic, social and emotional fallout from coronavirus, and ensure that health inequalities don't fall off of the national agenda. We need all boats to be better prepared to weather future storms.