PHE

Public Health England

Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a result of the reorganisation of the National Health Service (NHS) in England outlined in the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It took on the role of the Health Protection Agency, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and a number of other health bodies. It was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, and a distinct delivery organisation with operational autonomy. On 1 April 2021, Public Health England was replaced by the UK Health Security Agency, a new body created to deal with the threat of infectious diseases by combining PHE with the NHS Test and Trace operation. PHE will continue to have a transitional existence until 1 October 2021.