Read: Working with local communities to deliver better health outcomes

Positive health outcomes have never mattered more with Covid only highlighting the significant health inequalities that we face in this country. As the NHS continues to deal with cases of Covid, and ensure vaccination continues, the difficult job of reducing the backlogs in diagnosis, treatment and care of both physical and mental health illness is now a priority.

Having trained as a nurse and worked in the NHS for 25 years, and more recently as a Public Health minister, the links between poor public health and poor life outcomes are not new to me or indeed to anyone in the health professions. The situation has undoubtedly been made worse by Covid-19 and is likely to have entrenched some inequality that already exists, particularly for those in less advantaged communities. The new measures recently announced by the Government to improve health disparity and access to health services across the country are therefore timely.

This week the Government will launch the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), led by a new deputy chief medical officer, to tackle the main risk factors for poor health including obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption. Crucially, it will also work across government departments to address the wider drivers of good health such as employment, housing, education and the environment.

The Government has also extended the membership of the voluntary community and social enterprise, the Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The 19 members, including Age UK, Barnardo’s, the National Autistic Society and the Samaritans, will provide more diverse representation across a broad range of lived experiences. The Health and Wellbeing Programme is already playing a role in shaping policy on promoting good health and in making communities aware of important public health messages that might particularly affect them. The new members will help to make sure that the views of some of the most underrepresented voices in our least privileged communities are heard and properly reflected in government policy.

Working with the Levelling Up Health Coalition, I’ve already seen the targeted efforts by NHS organisations to work with those who most need support within their communities. There is some superb work going on, and considerable and targeted interventions are being made that will make measurable differences. For example, many patients of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust live in rural areas where poor transport links and lower than average car ownership make appointments hard to access. East Suffolk and North Essex also have an average life expectancy significantly below national levels, particularly among men, and also poor comparative outcomes from cancer. A planned community diagnostic hub will give patients in hard-to-reach locations access to the very latest diagnostic technology and techniques. In-depth data is also being used to examine the reasons behind the correlation between ethnic groups and low appointment attendance level.

Humber, Coast and Vale Integrated Care System has identified a particular area within the city of Hull which is home to the fourth most deprived local authority area in the country, with twice the national number of smokers and one of the biggest populations of looked-after children. Humber Coast and Vale are implementing a new, place-based way of working, focusing on the Beverley Road Corridor. Its agencies are working together to deliver cross-cutting, holistic services that support people and their families by reducing their need for services.

Addressing health inequality needs social and economic change and a clear focus on the prevention of poor health. We need to make sure that those most at risk receive the right messages and are offered targeted support. We need to listen to the views of those in less advantaged communities and use their experiences to inform health policy development. We need equal access to diagnosis, treatment and care. If we can reduce health inequalities we will be on the way to levelling up the country.

By Rt Hon Anne Milton, former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health