Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 states that a public authority must have due
regard to the need to:
a) eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation,
b) advance ‘Equality of Opportunity’, and
c) foster good relations.
It unifies and extends previous disparate equality legislation.
Whilst the ELR GP Fed is not a public authority we will nevertheless champion equality and human rights in all that we do.
This is especially important for communication and engagement activities. Communicating to our diverse audiences will be a mainstream activity for ELR GP Fed and we will ensure we assess the equality impact of our work. This will ensure that all our communication and engagement activities meet with the necessary guidance and address key needs as far as possible.
Tackling Health Inequalities
Whilst it is recognised that the East Leicestershire and Rutland population experiences better health than many other areas, within the CCG area there are areas of inequality that need careful service planning.
Health inequalities are important to us, as we need to look at current and new services to redress the balance of health for local people.
Given the relative affluence of the Fed area, the extent of the gap in life expectancy between better and worse off is a strong message that much of the deprivation may be hidden.
The Marmot Review 2014 reinforces the average 7-year gap in life expectancy. It also highlights a 17-year gap in disability-free life expectancy between those on the lowest incomes and those on the highest. Although the analysis on disability free years has not been undertaken locally it is strongly suspected that the statistic can be applied for ELR residents as well.
The Fed will address health inequalities by:
- Bringing health inequalities and localised areas of deprivation onto the Fed Board agenda;
- Working collaboratively with the ELR CCG Commissioners to focus on areas of higher deprivation;
- Understanding the changing composition of the population and developing effective local services via hubs/localities;
- Enhanced primary care for long term conditions;
- Shared care where appropriate to support people with health and social care needs.
The challenge for the Fed will be to carve out an extended role for primary care clinicians in tackling long-term conditions and complex care. The aim will be to make maximum use of the extensive skill set in general practice and join forces with each other to dissipate increasing pressure on clinical time and resources and reduce duplication.
Clearly we can’t change the increasing numbers of people who are elderly and/or living alone but we can develop local services that prevent or enable early detection of potentially life limiting or debilitating conditions and that reduce the equality gap across those who are best and worse off.
