Public Health England's One You initiative is good - but it won't replace the NHS

Not a replacement: Voice of the Mirror says One You should run alongside the NHS

Our wellbeing is personal as well as a matter for the National Health Service.

Each of us taking responsibility for how we live – eating properly, not drinking excessively, exercising and never smoking – is as important as eliminating environmental hazards or receiving top-quality treatment from doctors and nurses.

So the One You initiative launched by Public Health England, and similar initiatives in Wales and Scotland, are potentially vital steps towards better fitness and longer lives.

We have to look after ourselves but we still need a fully-funded NHS to look after us if we have an accident or fall ill.

So any minister who thinks this might be an alternative to the health service will be in for a rude awakening.

Shifting blame on to individuals is an old Conservative trick to justify cutbacks in public services, including the NHS. We believe people must accept personal responsibility but also value services, and the NHS is priceless.

At the heart of many physical as well as mental illnesses are grinding poverty, inequality, bad housing, low wages, job insecurity, poor education and the misery inflicted by the daily struggle to pay bills.

When are the Tories going to tackle these evils? Don’t hold your breath when all they seem to do is make them worse.