Resource Library: Health Inequalities

Welcome to the Health Inequalities Resource Library. Here you will find resources on, A Mentally Healthier Nation, Inclusive Digital Healthcare: A Framework for NHS Action on Digital Inclusion, as well as information on National Framework for NHS – Action on Inclusion Health and Reducing Health Inequalities.

  • This guidance helps healthcare organisations to implement the health and wellbeing guardian function. This function supports the development of a compassionate and inclusive wellbeing culture by independently challenging senior leaders, seeking assurance and recommending models, methods and resources to support employee wellbeing.

    It also describes how wellbeing guardians should ideally work with existing roles such as health and wellbeing leads, occupational health, human resources and organisational development teams, and wider stakeholders who support the wellbeing of our NHS people.


    NHS England » Health and wellbeing guardian guidance: guidance for implementing health and wellbeing guardians across different healthcare settings


    • The End-of-life Care for All (e-ELCA) programme is an elearning library which provides resources to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce so that well-informed high-quality care can be delivered by confident and competent staff and volunteers to support people wherever they happen to be.

      e-ELCA has been highlighted as a resource to help with implementation of the NICE Guidelines on improving care for people who are in their last days of life.

      Th e-ELCA elearning library offers over 180 highly interactive sessions which are grouped into 9 modules.


      End-of-life Care For All (e-ELCA) - elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk)

      • The COVID-19 pandemic saw access to elective care reduce dramatically, and waiting lists grow. The reduced access was worse for some. While inequalities have been a longstanding challenge for the NHS, in many cases, pre-existing inequalities in access, experience and outcomes were further exacerbated by the pandemic.

        To support elective care recovery, the 21/22 NHS Operational Planning Guidance laid out five priority areas for the NHS to focus its’ operational efforts on, one of which was to “restore elective care inclusively”. Systems were encouraged to use their local data to identify, improve understanding of, and take action to address healthcare inequalities.

        As a result of the operational planning guidance, examples of interventions and programmes aimed at delivering inclusive elective care recovery began to emerge. The Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Team at NHS England asked the Strategy Unit to collect and collate some of these examples in a structured way.

        In February-April 2023, we spoke to operational and clinical colleagues involved in interventions aimed at delivering inclusive elective care recovery across England.


        Inclusive Elective Care Recovery | The Strategy Unit (strategyunitwm.nhs.uk)

        • This document builds on previous NHS Digital guidance on digital inclusion for health and social care.

          Use it to design and implement inclusive digital approaches and technologies, which are complementary to non-digital services and support.


          NHS England » Inclusive digital healthcare: a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion

          • “The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is currently run monthly introductory webinars on Fingertips aimed at getting people using the tool, building their confidence and showing them how to find their way around the different functionalities (including the inequalities view). As the majority of our network hasn’t used Fingertips before, they’d suggest starting with attending one of these webinars in the first instance. They publish all our dates on our events page – there are spaces currently available on the 4th July session, 1.30-3pm and they’re hoping to make more dates available after the summer. These sessions are open to everyone and they’ve already had good attendance from other NHS organisations.”

             

            Buy tickets – Public Health in Focus webinars (tickettailor.com)

            • This course looks at the issue of health inequality – what is meant by health inequality, types of health inequality and their financial cost. It also explores how by focussing on understanding the makeup of the local population and using high quality data, NHS finance staff can support their organisation to improve access to healthcare.

              This course is suitable for finance staff, clinical and medical staff, and staff new to the NHS.

              Topics

              • What is meant by health inequality
              • The financial cost of health inequalities
              • The role of the NHS finance function in addressing health inequalities.


              Introduction to health inequalities for finance | HFMA


              • Throughout 2023, ARMA carried out the first ever national inquiry into MSK health inequalities to explore and highlight the issues and make recommendations for improvement. Financial support was provided for this project through sponsorship from Grünenthal UK Ltd and charitable grants from Pfizer Limited, Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK and Janssen.

                The prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal conditions are not experienced equally across the population. Musculoskeletal conditions are linked to deprivation, age, are more prevalent in women, and disproportionately affect some ethnic groups.

                Deprivation is a significant driver of inequalities in MSK health. People in deprived areas experience more chronic pain, are more likely to have a long term MSK condition and experience worse clinical outcomes and quality of life.  These inequalities are avoidable through changes in the design and delivery of MSK services, and actions to address wider determinants of health and prevention.


                Reduce health inequalities in musculoskeletal health | ARMA

                • Use this framework to plan, develop and improve health services to meet the needs of people in inclusion health groups.

                  Inclusion health is an umbrella term used to describe people who are socially excluded, who typically experience multiple interacting risk factors for poor health, such as stigma, discrimination, poverty, violence, and complex trauma.

                  People in inclusion health groups tend to have poor experiences of healthcare services because of barriers created by service design. These negative experiences can lead to people in inclusion health groups avoiding future contact with NHS services and being least likely to receive healthcare despite have high needs. This can result in significantly poorer health outcomes and earlier death among people in inclusion health groups compared with the general population.

                  Extremely poor health status among inclusion health groups is driven by severe disadvantage and clusters of social risk experienced when people are socially excluded. For example, someone who is alcohol dependent may also be homeless resulting in vulnerability, limited opportunities, extremely poor health and a reduced life expectancy. Risks may also build up over the life course. For example, adverse experiences in childhood may be associated with social exclusion, vulnerabilities and health needs both in childhood and later in life.

                  Inclusion health groups therefore require an explicit, tangible focus in system efforts to reduce healthcare inequalities.


                  NHS England » A national framework for NHS – action on inclusion health

                  • A community for place and neighbourhood teams

                    This Academy is for anyone using data and insights to improve health and care, drive collaboration and prioritise prevention through place-based partnerships and integrated neighbourhood teams. Find the most up to date resources, discuss challenges and share best practice. 


                    In order to view this you will need a NHS Futures account (Click Here to register)

                    Population Health Academy - Integrated Care (future.nhs.uk)

                    • Tackling rising health inequalities and stagnating life expectancy requires sustainable transformation towards prevention and health creation.

                      Many local health and care systems across England are currently tackling major short and long-term challenges — exacerbated by the disruption caused by industrial action — and these have an impact on health inequalities.


                      Reducing health inequalities by providing quality care to all communities | NHS Confederation


                      • NHS England (NHSE) and ICBs have both statutory obligations and strategic imperatives to contribute to the reduction in health inequalities among the population.

                        A key strategic priority, ensuring the inclusive recovery of NHS services, sets out the need to improve board-level reporting on health inequalities.

                        NHSE asked for ICBs and Trusts to:

                        • Use their data to plan the inclusive restoration of services, guided by local evidence
                        • Publish board papers that include an analysis of waiting times disaggregated by ethnicity and deprivation
                        • Demonstrate how the ICS’s senior responsible officer (SRO) for health inequalities will work with the board and partner organisations to use local population data to identify the needs of communities experiencing inequalities in access, experience and outcomes
                        • Improve data collection and reporting will drive a better understanding of local health inequalities in access to, experience of and outcomes from healthcare services

                        Reporting on health inequalities to NHS Trust Boards - NHS SCW Support and Transformation for Health and Care (scwcsu.nhs.uk)


                        • One of the four key purposes of integrated care systems (ICSs) is to help the NHS support broader social and economic development. For many people working in local areas – in the NHS, local government, VCSE sector, business, academia and finance – this objective presents an exciting opportunity to change how we work together, and with people and communities, to create a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives.


                          Systems for change: Driving social and economic development | NHS Confederation


                          • This free course, Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), explores the experience of ADHD from the perspective of those who are diagnosed with the condition, and those who care for them. It covers the contribution of scientific research to understanding ADHD, with a focus on assessing the effectiveness and mechanism of action of treatments and therapies.


                            After studying this course, you should be able to:

                            • define key terms in the field of ADHD research

                            • describe the characteristics of ADHD and how they are used in diagnosis

                            • describe the patterns of prevalence of ADHD, including the reasons for disparities worldwide

                            • describe the risk factors and brain changes associated with ADHD

                            • outline key approaches to managing ADHD, with reference to their scientific evidence base.


                            Understanding ADHD | OpenLearn - Open University

                            • This free online short course is designed to help you learn more about autism, Asperger's and ADHD, their differences and the importance of understanding the classification, assessment and diagnosis.

                              In this course you will consider the often fine lines between autism, Asperger’s and the subtypes of ADHD, as well as explore your own perceptions and assumptions of autism and ADHD along with commonly-held assumptions of classification and assessment.

                              This course will:

                              • Help you learn to demonstrate critical competence in communication, compassion and empathy

                              • Help you to defend independence and promote a person-centric approach to the understanding of both autism and ADHD

                              • Help you learn how to compare, contrast and critique differences between assessment, diagnosis and treatment practices in the UK and internationally


                              Understanding Autism, Asperger's and ADHD - Free courses - University of Derby

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