The Health and Wellbeing Board is asked to consider the requirements for a Coventry and Warwickshire Health Inequalities Strategic Plan, local priority population groups for the Strategic Plan, the progress made to date and support the implementation of the Plan.

The Health and Wellbeing Board was asked to consider the requirements for a Coventry and Warwickshire Health Inequalities Strategic Plan, local priority population groups for the Strategic Plan, the progress made to date and support the implementation of the Plan.

The draft plan was required to be submitted to NHS England and NHS Improvement by 22 March 2022. It must depict a locally agreed strategic approach for addressing health inequalities within five nationally determined clinical priorities, covering maternity care, early cancer diagnosis, severe mental illness, chronic respiratory disease and hypertension. It also had to show this work was embedded within a broader approach to reducing health inequalities within Coventry and Warwickshire. A programme of engagement with partners and key NHS workstreams was underway to shape the Strategic Plan and ensure the approach took into account the needs and inequalities within each of the three Warwickshire ‘Places’ (Warwickshire North, Rugby and South Warwickshire).

The five national clinical priorities were set out within a ‘Core20+5’ model. The model required focused efforts to improve health access and outcomes for those living in the most deprived 20% of the population. There was evidence to show the inequalities in health outcomes, life expectancy and in terms of maternal deaths and morbidity amongst some ethnicities. The five clinical priorities were primarily focused on secondary and tertiary prevention approaches. Overall, life expectancy in Warwickshire was above the national average. However, there was variation by deprivation and gender with data provided in the report and appendix to demonstrate this.

A key area was determining the local priority population groups and the following were recommended:

·       People from black and minority ethnic groups

·       Transient communities (homelessness, gypsies, travellers, boaters and newly arrived communities)

·       People living with disabilities (physical, sensory and/or neurological)

·       Older people experiencing rural isolation

Within Warwickshire 6.5% of the population, approximately 38,000 people, lived in the most deprived 20% of areas nationally (based on the indices of multiple deprivation). There was a need locally, to broaden the scope beyond the most deprived national quintile in order to adequately address the disproportionate impacts the pandemic had caused on ethnically diverse communities within Warwickshire. Data was provided to demonstrate this. Subsequent sections of the report expanded on the rationale for selecting each of the proposed local priority population groups.

The Board discussed the following areas:

• The Chair asked the Board to focus on the proposed ‘Plus’ areas which could be varied as several aspects within the report had to be included.
• Sarah Raistrick asked if the proposed areas were data driven and there would be tangible outcomes and improvements from the targeted resources. From an NHS perspective there would be measurement of the results, but for residents it was important that the resultant improvements could be demonstrated too. She reminded of her earlier points about children and in this report, after maternity there was quite a gap before any of the health conditions referenced affected children. She suggested selecting a priority that was universal to Warwickshire’s population. This could then  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6