Health Inequalities

Our Population Health Intelligence page signposts useful national data and information on health inequalities, including the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) Health Inequalities Dashboard and Local Inequalities Explorer Tool.

General

• Health Inequalities – elearning for healthcare health inequalities programme is designed to help healthcare professionals. It includes two courses on sickle cell and Core20PLUS5.
• All Our Health – elearning for healthcare signposts a range of e-learning and tools which connect to the All Our Health guidance.
• Health Equity Assessment Tool (HEAT) – elearning for healthcare e-learning module to support use of the HEAT tool.

General Practice

• Health Inequalities Hub | RCGP Learning is written by GPs and contains a variety of learning resources from eLearning modules to podcasts and recordings.
• Fairer Practice Toolkit for General Practice – RCGP Learning is a toolkit about how General Practices be as equitable as possible in providing their services.

Inclusion health

• See All Our Health e-learning for general e-learning on inclusion health and around specific areas such as homelessness.
• Inclusion Health Education & Training – Pathway works to improve the skills and knowledge of the inclusion health workforce through practice guidance, specialist training resources and mapping CPD opportunities.
• Safe Surgeries Toolkit – Doctors of the World. A Safe Surgery can be any GP practice which commits to taking steps to tackle the barriers faced by many migrants in accessing healthcare.

Health Literacy

• Health Literacy – elearning for healthcare introduction to health literacy, why it is important and the core techniques to improve health literacy.
• Health Literacy Toolkit NHS England – 2023 2nd edition provides a general introduction to health literacy and digital health literacy.

Both courses link to NHS England personalised care guidance on health literacy and the link with reducing health inequalities.

• The Health Equity Network is hosted by the Institute of Health Equity at UCL and led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot. Its primary focus is on addressing the social determinants of health (SDH).
• Equality and Health Inequalities Network is hosted on Future NHS by the Equalities and Involvement Team (Nursing Directorate – NHS England). The purpose of this network is to bring together materials to improve patient equality and health inequalities.

All Our Health, overseen by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), is a collection of 30 educational resources and e-learning on critical public health topics.

Example resources on health inequalities include:

• Health disparities and health inequalities: applying All Our Health
• Homelessness: applying All Our Health
• Inclusion Health: applying All Our Health

On the Equality and Health Inequalities Hub NHS England you will find key information about statutory responsibilities around equalities and health inequalities and the national NHS programmes in these areas. Key resources include:

• Equality Frameworks and Information Standards like the Accessible Information Standard
• Workforce Equality Data Standards
• Legal duties
• National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme, including Core 20 Plus 5 and guidance on Inclusion health.

The Institute of Health Equity at UCL, established by Sir Micheal Marmot in 2011, leads and collaborates on work that addresses the social determinants of health and improves health equity.

Key work includes the development of Marmot Places and reports such as Fair Society Healthy Lives: The Marmot Review (2010) and Marmot Review 10 Years On (2020).

The Health Foundation is an independent charity that conducts research and analysis to improve the quality of health and healthcare for people across the UK. They produce resources and reports on health inequalities, such as:

• Evidence hub: What drives health inequalities? – providing a data repository with insights and analysis exploring how the circumstances in which we live shape our health.
• Health inequalities in 2040 – a key report highlighting the impact of health inequalities and patterns of inequalities in diagnosed illness by socioeconomic deprivation across England and projecting them into the future.

The Local Government Association provides case studies and guidance related to health inequalities. For example:

• The Health inequalities hub provides case studies from councils who are working to reduce inequalities through different methods
• Health in all policies: a manual for local government brings together arguments for a HiAP approach with practical suggestions for development at the local level.

 

The NHS Race and Health Observatory, hosted by NHS Confederation and supported by NHS England, works to identify and tackle ethnic inequalities in health and care by facilitating research, making health policy recommendations and enabling long-term transformational change. Example resources on ethnic health inequalities include:

• Model for Improvement: Anti-Racism Framework Guidance – a practical, equity-centred adaptation of the widely used quality improvement approach.
• Patient Experience and Trust in NHS Primary Care – insights from a survey into the levels of trust that Black, Asian and ethnic minority patients have with NHS primary care service providers.
• Seven Anti-Racism Principles and Briefings – a simple, evidence-based model of anti-racism.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides a range of guidance related to health inequalities. For example:

• NICE and health inequalities – strategies to help improve population health as a whole, while offering particular benefit to the most disadvantaged.
• Health Inequalities: the wider picture – an overview of health inequalities, including NICE guidelines related to NHS England Core20PLUS5 national approach to tackling health inequalities for adults and children.
• NICE guideline NG44. Community engagement: improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities – covers community engagement approaches to reduce health inequalities, ensure health and wellbeing initiatives are effective, and help local authorities and health bodies meet their statutory obligations.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists provides a range of guidance documents on addressing health inequalities. For example:

• Health inequalities briefing pack – an online resource to support implementation of population-based approaches in health care, public health, and across sectors.
• Best practice for addressing inequalities in mental health – resources relating to racism and discrimination with a particular focus on protected characteristics: disability, ethnicity/race, gender, sexuality.