Read: University Hospitals Birmingham signs up to pioneering levelling up framework

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) has committed to assess its social impact against a new set of levelling up measurements.

Employing over 20,000 staff and treating more than 2.2 million patients every year, UHB is one of the largest hospital trusts in England and it works closely with local and regional stakeholders to boost health outcomes. 

Launched earlier this year by former Education Secretary Rt Hon Justine Greening, the Levelling Up Goals provide a universal benchmark for organisations to track progress. The 14 goals provide Britain’s first levelling up framework to focus efforts on driving equality of opportunity at key life stages, from early years through to careers, alongside the barriers to opportunity such as closing the digital divide and health and wellbeing.

The partnership will include the development of a Levelling Up Impact Report to map UHB’s activity against the new set of measurements to track levelling up. It will build on work already underway at the Trust, including its employment and training programme that provides pre-employment training, advice and guidance to unemployed people in the most disadvantaged communities.

UHB joins a growing number of organisations measuring their impact against the goals, including the BBC, Amazon UK, BP, Manchester United Foundation and Northumbria University.

A long-term campaigner on levelling up both inside and now outside of Parliament, in 2018 Justine Greening co-founded the Social Mobility Pledge to bring businesses and universities together to improve social mobility. The Levelling Up Goals are the first major piece of work launched by the most committed of these organisations.

Justine Greening said: “It’s great to be working alongside Jacqui Smith and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust on our first Levelling Up Impact Report for an NHS Trust. UHB is a huge employer in the West Midlands and plays a significant role in the health and wellbeing of the community that it serves.  

“Health plays an absolutely fundamental role in the levelling up agenda and the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on certain communities has highlighted the urgent need for action on health inequalities. As we look towards recovery from the pandemic, we must ensure that tackling health inequalities is a priority.”

Rt Hon Jacqui Smith, Chair of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, added: “The West Midlands has some of the largest health inequalities in the country - travelling just seven stops on the train on the way out of Birmingham can increase your life expectancy by over eight years. We are very keen to address these inequalities and understand our role in influencing a whole range of factors that will help people to have healthier lives. 

“As a Trust we see ourselves as an anchor institution within Birmingham and Solihull, working in partnership with local stakeholders and other health and social care providers to boost health outcomes. I’m looking forward to working with Justine on our Levelling Up Impact Report and understanding the wider impact that we have on our communities.”