How the NHS is playing a crucial part in breaking down barriers to opportunity
A recent report has highlighted the stark divide in health and wealth in the UK, with people living in the most deprived parts of the country more than twice as likely to be in poor health as those living in the most affluent. Shorter life expectancy, more of life lived in poor health, the incidence of serious disease, obesity and addiction, higher maternal mortality rates and increasing mental illness are the consequences of disadvantage. Opportunities are scarce, holding back not only individuals but entire communities. In a vicious circle of underprivilege, they are all too often the communities least able to cope.
This isn’t new, of course – we’ve known how social inequalities (income, education, housing, diet, employment, conditions of work etc) have increased health inequalities around the UK since the attempted suppression of the Black Report in 1980. Despite decades of alarm signals, many parts of the country have seen the cumulative impact of these factors in terms of a general lack of opportunity, with bad health blackspots coinciding with areas of high economic inactivity. This latest research highlights that one in every four people who are economically inactive live in just 50 local authorities. That is not a result of a lack of talent or ability in those places; instead, it is a scandalous reflection of the many barriers that still exist preventing people from getting on and making their lives, and that of their communities, more prosperous. Poverty, a lack of financial resilience, high unemployment, poor quality housing and social isolation all contribute to health inequalities. And we cannot accept this any longer.
The NHS plays a crucial part in breaking down the barriers that prevent people from accessing opportunity. As one of the few genuinely remaining universal services founded as part of the original welfare state, It has a critical role in addressing the nation’s health needs, especially those of the most vulnerable. The Purpose Coalition works with over 20 health organisations around the country, covering 135,000 employees. Together we are developing solutions to help address the challenges the NHS is facing – the health inequalities that were exacerbated first by the pandemic and, more recently, a cost-of-living crisis, an increasingly ageing population and recruitment and retention issues which threaten to undermine its ability to deliver the service we expect.
The Labour Party has already committed to getting the NHS back on its feet, one of its five missions for a fairer future. As a former member of Sir Keir Starmer’s Shadow Cabinet, I have seen firsthand how well my colleagues understand the need to support the NHS but equally recognise the urgent need for change. Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Minister, Wes Streeting MP, has acknowledged that reform is vital if the institution is to survive but also that a wide range of solutions should be considered, including the use of the additional private healthcare capacity to reduce waiting lists. Refusing to do so, as some in Labour insist even when such capacity exists and is underused, condemns those in pain and in need of treatment to an even longer wait. This is cruelty inflicted on the most vulnerable through rigid ideology and dogma; Wes is absolutely right to tackle such internal critics head on.
Cross party engagement is central to the Purpose Coalition’s ethos. Identifying common ground across traditional political divides, we seek to build evidence-based consensus for change which improves outcomes for patients and communities. Alongside former Social Care Minister, Rt Hon Dame Caroline Dinenage, Wes launched the Purpose Health Coalition’s advocacy and policy campaign, Your local NHS : Be at the heart of it. It highlights the best practice that our partner Trusts, as anchor institutions, are undertaking to maximise their economic and social impact in the communities they serve, as well as the opportunities that the NHS offers to those who work in it.
Reflecting the nationwide challenges facing the NHS, our work is also countrywide. Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, for example, provides a wide range of adult mental health and learning disability services, tailored to its community’s needs. As a rural hospital, Airedale NHS Foundation Trust operates with a high degree of community engagement to deliver the quality of care that will lead to healthier communities.
All our NHS Trust partners recognise how important it is to lean into their communities to enable them to provide the support they need, whether that is more diagnostic hubs in town centres or better career paths into the NHS for local people. It’s not just about building healthier communities. Ultimately, the NHS – as one of our country’s greatest institutions – should be a wider force for good, breaking down the barriers to opportunity that currently hold us back from having a more productive economy and a fairer society.
