Health inequality targets will be missed

1 Jul 10
The government is on course to miss its target for closing the health gap between the rich and the poor, an official report reveals today
By David Williams

2 July 2010

The government is on course to miss its target for closing the health gap between the rich and the poor, an official report reveals today.

A National Audit Office enquiry concluded that while the Department of Health had made a serious effort to tackle health inequalities over the past decade, it is unlikely to succeed in its aim to cut the gap in life expectancies by 10% by the end of 2010.

The target was first stated in 2000 but the NAO found that a focused strategy for targeting the problem was not put in place until 2006/07.

The report found inequalities had become more entrenched. In the poorest areas, which get around 15% more cash per head than the typical funding rate, life expectancies have improved at a slower rate than for the country as a whole since 1997.

Primary care trusts had insufficient evidence on what measures to reduce health inequalities were cost-effective. The DoH also did not have an effective means of driving improvements through PCT commissioning.

The department has identified a package of actions, including more services to help people give up smoking and more prescriptions for drugs to control blood pressure, which would be cost-effective. The NAO said this would cost £24m a year.

Yet despite this modest sum, a fraction of the £3.9bn annual cost of health inequalities, the DoH does not monitor whether those actions are put into practice.
Neither does it have a figure for the total spent nationally on fighting health inequalities. There is also no way to hold health authorities to account over whether they observe national guidelines for combating the health gap.

NAO head Amyas Morse said the DoH should develop costed proposals to increase investment in preventative measures in the most deprived areas.

‘We recognise that this is a very complicated issue and that it took time to develop an evidence base,’ he said.

‘However, the best, cost-effective interventions have been identified and now must be employed on a larger scale.’

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top