Last week, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care gave a speech on on health inequalities, in which he said:
"The gap between the health of the poorest and wealthiest parts of our country have widened. These stark health inequalities are not just down to the health service alone. They are also caused by poverty, a lack of good work, damp housing, dirty air, and the sporting, travel and cultural opportunities which are afforded to the privileged few being denied to the many."
In response, our CEO John Hume said:
"Wes Streeting is absolutely right to highlight the importance of tackling rising health inequalities, and we agree that this cannot be done through a focus on the health service alone. The quality and length of our lives is driven by the many building blocks of health, such as having a decent and secure home, access to good education and work, an income to live well on, and clean air to breath.
"For the past 14 years, we have worked tirelessly on the socio-economic factors which cause poor health, early death and drive inequalities. Alongside colleagues in the Inequalities in Health Alliance, we have long called for a cross-departmental strategy as critical means in reducing health inequalities (see our submission to the consultation on the 10 year plan for the NHS here).
"Seeing a cross-government health inequalities strategy alongside a focus and investment in upstream prevention in the forthcoming 10 year plan is critical for all but, if correctly targeted, is an absolute game-changer for the health of poorest people in the country."