Guide for nursing directors on reducing health inequalities

The guide is intended to provide NHS trust leaders with practical support to help them ensure people from all groups of the population have fair access to, experience of and outcomes from healthcare.

“Now is the time for decisive action to ensure every patient receives the care they deserve”

Saffron Cordery

It warned that data available in the healthcare system showed “stark inequalities for those from more deprived groups, from ethnic minorities, and for those with severe mental illness or learning disabilities, among others”.

This comes after a report from the Kings Fund last week highlighted the growing challenge to the NHS of health inequalities.

The think tank reported that people living in poverty find it harder to live healthy lives, harder to access NHS services, live with greater illness and die earlier than the rest of the population.

It warned that the recent rise in deep poverty, cost-of-living increases and high pressure on NHS services were all worsening health inequalities.

Deputy chief executive at NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said: “In the face of mounting pressures on the healthcare sector, tackling health inequalities is both a moral imperative and a strategic necessity for the NHS.

“The pandemic laid bare the deep-seated inequities that persist within our society, disproportionately affecting vulnerable and marginalised communities.”

The new guide from NHS Providers outlines why trusts should act on health inequalities and includes an overview of existing guidance from NHS England and other organisations relating to health inequalities.

It includes a self-assessment tool for trusts to use to measure their progress to date in tackling health inequalities.

The guide also sets out four priority objectives for trusts starting work on health inequalities. The first of these is to appoint a board-level executive lead for health inequalities, in line with current requirements from NHS England.

In addition, trust boards should develop an organisational plan or strategy on health inequalities for the trust, work to build public health capability in the trust, and carry out data analysis to underpin understanding of the health inequalities within the communities the trust serves.

The guide also recommends a number of steps to be taken by NHS trust board members involved in clinical, quality and research including nursing directors and medical directors. These include ensuring that existing programmes do not exacerbate or perpetuate inequalities, and considering active case finding approaches to reduce health inequalities, such as hypertension case finding and early cancer diagnosis.

In addition, health inequalities should be addressed in all areas of clinical governance such as patient safety and audit, and there should be proactive engagement with groups that are not traditionally involved in research or quality improvement, including those from deprived areas and underrepresented ethnic minority groups.

Ms Cordery said that the launch of the NHS Providers guide underlined the “critical role” NHS board members play in the battle against health inequalities.

“As healthcare leaders, they hold the key to reshaping policies and services to address some of the root causes of disparities,” she said.

“Failing to act not only exacerbates pressures on our already overstretched services but also undermines the very ethos of equitable healthcare.

“Now is the time for decisive action to ensure every patient receives the care they deserve, regardless of their background or circumstances.”