Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Health Disparities White Paper

Wednesday 30 November 2022 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Health disparities in the UK show a 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas.
  • The Government's levelling up White Paper includes a health mission to address these disparities.
  • The NHS has launched the Core20PLUS5 initiative to target the 20% most deprived communities with interventions in five key clinical areas.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett
Context

The question arises from a significant gap in healthy life expectancy between the most deprived areas of the UK and more affluent regions. In Gateshead, this disparity is particularly stark.

Question

There is a 20-year gap in healthy life expectancy between those who live in the most deprived areas of the country and those who live in the least. In Gateshead, my local authority, healthy life expectancy is 57.9 years for men and 76.4 years for women compared with a national average over 63 years. The Conservative party promised in its 2019 manifesto to increase 'healthy life expectancy by five years by 2035.' Will the Minister come clean and admit that, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the Government are not on track to hit that?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

This is the first Government to want to tackle health disparities, which have been in place for generations. It is true that a woman born in Blackpool can expect to live eight fewer years than someone in Wokingham, but that is why the levelling up White Paper included a levelling up health mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy between local areas by 2030. I refer the hon. Lady to the Core20PLUS5 work done by NHS England that is tackling the five single health indicators that are most expanding health disparities in the 20% most deprived communities.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not directly address whether the government is on track to meet its manifesto commitment based on ONS data, but provided information about actions being taken to address health disparities.

How: Under Review

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Q2 Liz Twist Lab Blaydon and Consett
NHS Women & Equalities
Context

There are significant health inequalities in areas such as Stoke-on-Trent, where affordable healthy food is scarce and obesity rates are high.

Question

Does the Minister agree that the health disparities White Paper is fundamentally an equalities White Paper and about levelling up, so areas such as Stoke-on-Trent, where we have significant issues with affordable, healthy food and an obesity emergency, need to know that the White Paper will cover those recommendations put forward in the national food strategy?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

Of course, the health disparities White Paper is important, but work has already started on disparities. As I set out, the NHS has already launched the Core20PLUS5, where the 20% most deprived communities are being targeted with interventions in the five most clinically significant areas. Those are maternity, mental health, respiratory disease, cancer and hypertension. Work has already started, and I know that that is of particular interest in areas such as Stoke.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not confirm whether the White Paper covers equalities issues but mentioned existing initiatives like Core20PLUS5.

How: Under Review

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Q3 Jo Gideon
NHS Women & Equalities
Context

A recent World Health Organisation study published in The Lancet highlighted high cancer death rates among poorer women in Britain, indicating significant health inequalities.

Question

A new WHO study found that poorer women in Britain have some of the highest cancer death rates in Europe. Income levels should not be a determinant for someone's chances of getting and dying from cancer. Does the Minister recognise this as unacceptable, and will she commit to a cross-Government strategy that tackles health inequalities?

Answer from Maria Caulfield

I refer the shadow Minister to the work that the Government are already doing. Cancer in particular is one of the five core areas in which we are investing significant resources to diagnose people earlier. She may be interested in the lung cancer detection vans, which go to those communities with the highest incidence rates and poorer outcomes for lung cancer. Some 70% of people with stage 1 or 2 cancer are being detected, significantly improving their life expectancy.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not directly commit to a cross-Government strategy but highlighted existing initiatives targeting cancer disparities.

How: Under Review

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