Variations in health : what can the Department of Health and the NHS do? A report / produced by the Variations Sub-Group of the Chief Medical Officer's Health of the Nation Working Group.

  • Great Britain. Department of Health. Variations Sub-Group.
Date:
[1995]
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Variations in health : what can the Department of Health and the NHS do? A report / produced by the Variations Sub-Group of the Chief Medical Officer's Health of the Nation Working Group. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The Problem 1.1 For several decades now it has been well documented that across the developed world, there are variations in the extent of sickness and premature death between different groups within populations. Some groups can expect to enjoy substantially better health and longer lives than others. These variations in health status are associated with a range of often interacting factors: geography, socio-economic status, gender, environment, ethnicity, culture, and lifestyle. Variations persist even as health improves overall across the population. 1.2 The Health of the Nation White Paper notes that effective strategies to improve health need to be sensitive to variations in health. It states that it will be necessary to identify the variations that occur in particular health problems in order to concentrate efforts on people at particular risk, and to adopt different strategies for different groups. Priorities and Planning Guidance issued to the NHS in 1994/95 asked authorities to address variations in health between regions and between social groups and 1995/96 guidance stated that services should not only improve the health of the population as a whole, but should aim to reduce variations by targeting resources where needs are greatest. 1.3. However, despite the considerable attention paid to the associations between a range of factors and ill-health, there is little practical guidance available on effective interventions in the health arena to address health variations. It was this gap that prompted the Chief Medical Officer to bring together - within the context of the Health of the Nation strategy - a group of people with particular knowledge of the field. The group was asked to advise him on what steps the Department of Health and the NHS should be taking to tackle variations, and to identify where further research was needed. This report summarises the results of our work. While we were conducting our work, a further document was published which adds to the available information in this area.’ * ‘Tackling Inequalities in Health: An agenda for action’. Ed. M Benzeval, K Judge, M Whitehead; King’s Fund 1995: