Addressing health inequalities lies at the core of the NHS goals. The National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme is dedicated to fostering equal access, enhancing patient experiences, and achieving optimal outcomes across all demographics.
The NHS uses the Core20PLUS5 framework, which defines specific target populations and clinical domains, such as mental health, to concentrate efforts on reducing health inequalities. Healthcare providers are being tasked with recognising, reporting on and addressing variations in access to services, patient experiences, and health outcomes within their respective communities.
How is Mayden helping to address health inequalities?
At Mayden, we’re committed to finding out more about how services are using their data. Additionally, whether they are joining it up with population health data. This allows them to identify health inequalities in access to services and also in outcomes.
Data is at the heart of these improvements
Good quality data enables NHS services to understand the needs of the different population groups they serve. Through this, they can then target initiatives to address health inequalities. Additionally, the Core20Plus5 approach defines a target population cohort and clinical areas of focus requiring accelerated improvement.
Our electronic patient record, iaptus, is the EPR for improved outcomes. It supports healthcare providers in gathering and analysing their service data. Furthermore, it offers insights into patient demographics such as location, age, gender, and ethnicity.
Through iaptus, services can pinpoint demographic groups that may be underrepresented relative to the local population, potentially facing obstacles in accessing services. Moreover, by leveraging these insights, healthcare teams can effectively prioritise initiatives and enhance service delivery to address the disparities they’ve identified.
iaptus supports Barnardo’s Cumbria Link Project to report on health inequalities for CYP
iaptus supports over 20 Barnardo’s projects across the UK, including the Barnardo’s Cumbria Link social prescribing service. Social prescribing is “an approach that connects people to activities, groups and services in their community. This helps to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing” (NHS 2023). It can help reduce health inequalities by breaking down barriers to accessing community services and forming a support network around children, young people and families.
It’s an established part of the NHS strategy, recognising that non-clinical social interventions can be appropriate in addressing people’s needs. Link workers spend time with children and young people to understand the health challenges they face. They also work across services to connect them to community activities, groups and support.
The Cumbria Link project supports 5-19 year olds including those who are on the SEND pathway, those identifying as LGBTQ+ and those generally with low level emotional wellbeing. Cumbria is a largely rural area with pockets of deprivation. Barnardo’s Link workers are able to target their support across socioeconomic groups. They can then help reduce barriers to participation within services to improve wellbeing for children and young people.
Read Barnardo’s ‘Missing link social prescribing for children and young people’
iaptus helps the Cumbria Link team to provide reliable data on their services to stakeholders, manage patient journeys, and track outcomes for children and young people. They routinely record a range of data on referral source and reason, demographics, outcome impacts and feedback from parent, carers, children and referrers.
More resources on health inequalities.
If you would like to find out more about how our software can address health inequalities, get in touch.