Blog

A healthy population is key to citizen wellbeing, a productive economy and manageable public services. Policy decisions on jobs, income, housing, education, transport and green space have a major impact on health, but do not involve the Department of Health and Social Care. As the government sets out policies to deliver on its manifesto commitments, how can we ensure health is considered across government, mitigating the potential adverse impacts, ensuring equity and accentuating the positives? Here we argue that Health Impact Assessments are a key tool to cross-government action on health and health inequalities.

Discussions around population health and economic growth and their interconnectedness have intensified since the new government came to power. Parliament and cabinet members highlight the importance of cutting NHS waiting times and optimising prevention programmes to enable people to stay healthy and economically active. What seems to be less discussed – at least for now – is how the fundamental drivers of poor health and health inequalities will be tackled and to what extent the NHS can contribute to this goal. 

In this blog, we introduce eFIT, a tool that helps Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) allocate funding more equitably by considering socio-economic factors. By addressing inequalities in general practice funding, eFIT aims to provide additional resources to practices serving disadvantaged communities, working towards fairer health care outcomes for all.

The manifestos have been published, but what are they likely to mean for health and care inequalities? Let’s take a closer look and examine the underlying evidence.

BMJ Open has recently published an in-depth review examining anti-racist interventions to address ethnic inequalities in healthcare. In this blog, two of the review’s authors reflect on what this means for primary care.

In this blog, a member of our Citizens’ Panel highlights the pivotal role of a dedicated GP in guiding their recovery from a life-changing condition. They emphasise the transformative impact of compassionate healthcare and support in navigating both physical and mental health challenges.

In this blog, one of our Citizen Panel members reflects on their experience of using self-referral for seeking mental health care.