Health inequalities are unfair and avoidable differences in health across the population, and between different groups within society. These include how long people are likely to live, the health conditions they may experience and the care that is available to them.
People living in the most-deprived areas have a life expectancy nearly a decade shorter than the least-deprived areas
Those in the most deprived areas can expect to live 18 fewer healthy years than those in the least deprived areas.
Health inequalities are caused by a wide range of factors. The worse health outcomes occur when people have limited access to health care, experience poorer-quality care and practice more risky health-related behaviors (for example, smoking).
These factors are often influenced by wider determinants such as income, housing, environment, transport, education and work. Tackling health inequalities requires an understanding of the complex interaction between all these factors.
Health inequalities are experienced between different groups of people and are affected by socio-economic factors, geography, specific characteristics (for example, ethnicity or sexuality) and socially excluded groups (people who are asylum seekers or experiencing homeless). The effects of inequality are multiplied for those who have more than one type of disadvantage.
The NHS Long Term Plan has placed tackling health inequalities at the heart of NHS goals. It has also developed the Core20PLUS5 framework which defines key population groups and clinical focus areas for accelerated improvement in healthcare inequalities.
Primary Care Network Contract DES has requirements for Tackling Neighborhood Health Inequalities.
Obligation under the Health and Care Act 2022 includes tackling inequalities in outcomes, experience and access: improve outcomes in population health and healthcare.
The NHS Long Term Plan states that ‘while we cannot treat our way out of inequalities, the NHS can ensure that action to drive down health inequalities is central to everything we do’
We are, Health Inequalities educators with many years’ experiences working in Deep End Practices in South Yorkshire and who have a passion for teaching. We provide training on health inequalities to everyone working in primary care across the South Yorkshire region.
We cover Barnsley, Doncaster, Sheffield and Rotherham
Events are available for the whole practice team.
We provide introduction to health inequalities training.
We also provide training tailored to your practice, based on the inequalities experienced by your practice demographics.
Our aim is to enable you to make practical changes to improve your patients’ health at an individual, practice and PCN level.
Our introduction to health inequality training includes understanding health inequalities in a general, national and local context, understanding why they happen and who they affect, why it matters, and Core20PLUS5 approach.
We use patient stories as a focus for learning with discussion of the issues. We follow this with practical steps that can be done individually or as a practice or as a Primary Care Network.
This training is included in SYB Training Hub Preceptorship and apprenticeship schemes
This training is aimed at:
………everyone working in Primary Care
We provide training on
– People experiencing homelessness
– People on drug and alcohol dependence
– Refugee’s and asylum seekers
– Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities
– Sex workers
– People in contact with the justice system
– Other socially excluded groups
These are webinars held on Thursday lunchtimes between 12.45pm and 2pm for anyone working in primary care across South Yorkshire who is interested in learning more about health inequalities, and what we can do to reduce these.
We cover a range of topics over the series including
There is a particular focus on hearing from people with lived experience of exclusion or marginalization, as well as practical steps we can take in primary care to make a difference for our patients.
We also hope to offer a welcoming online space where we can foster connections across South Yorkshire and share ideas and experience. We start each at 12.45pm to allow 15 minutes of arrival and conversation before the training begins at 1pm and finishes at 2pm.
To register for our latest webinars, head to our events page.
