Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of digital exclusion on access to healthcare services, including booking appointments and accessing remote consultations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate.
This means that although we promote digital first services to those who choose to use them, a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally to ensure continued, equitable access to care.
These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of public health funding in reducing rates of preventable illnesses in disadvantaged communities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Public Health Grant supports local authorities to deliver vital public health services that focus on reducing preventable illnesses through services such as smoking cessation, drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery, health visiting, and sexual health clinics. Public Health Grant allocations are weighted heavily towards deprivation, with per capita funding for the most deprived local authority more than two times greater than that for the least deprived.
More than £13.4 billion will be consolidated into the Public Health Grant to local authorities, and a retained business rates arrangement with Greater Manchester local authorities, over the next three years beginning in 2026/27. This is a 5.6% total cash increase over the period, on top of 5.5% cash growth in 2025/26.
The National Health Service also funds important public health services, including national screening and immunisation programmes. In doing so, NHS England has regard to the need to reduce inequalities both in access to services and in health outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have undertaken of the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and the prevalence of mental health conditions, particularly among children and young people.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Research recently completed and funded by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre has found that socioeconomic inequalities in children’s mental health are evident by age five and persist throughout childhood and adolescence. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which health inequalities experienced in early childhood contribute to long-term disparities in physical and mental health outcomes.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. We know that a child’s early experiences shape their lifelong physical, emotional, and social development. Inequalities, such as poverty, can have a long-lasting impact on children’s health. For example, childhood obesity is strongly linked to deprivation and an increased risk of obesity in later life. Research suggests that any exposure to poverty during childhood is associated with worse physical and mental health in adolescence.
The 10-Year Health Plan, Child Poverty Strategy, and Best Start in Life Strategy all set out the action we are taking to raise the healthiest generation of children ever and reduce long-term health inequalities. This includes our supervised toothbrushing programme for three-to-five-year-olds in deprived areas, increasing the weekly value of Healthy Start by 10%, and over £500 million to roll out Best Start Family Hubs to every local authority.
We are committed to strengthening the evidence on children’s health and its lifelong impacts. We have commissioned research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research to deepen our understanding of early-years risk factors and inequalities, which is due to report in 2027/28.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how access to GP and primary care services differs between areas of high and low deprivation; and what steps they are taking to address unequal access and capacity.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practices (GPs) serving more deprived areas receive on average 9.8% less funding per needs adjusted patient than those in less deprived communities, despite having greater health needs and significantly higher patient-to-GP ratios.
We recognise the importance of ensuring funding for core services is distributed equitably between practices across the country. This is why we are currently reviewing the way GP funding is allocated across England, via the Carr-Hill formula. The review will look at how health needs are reflected in the distribution of funding through the GP Contract.
To further improve access and capacity, we have invested £1.1 billion in GPs, and £160 million of this has been to expand the GP workforce, by recruiting 2,000 more GPs since October 2024.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to implement a national strategy to support local decision-makers in adopting measures to reduce health inequalities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with healthy life expectancy varying widely across and between communities. To tackle the gap in healthy life expectancy, health inequalities will be a golden thread running through work across the Department and across the Government, with addressing health inequalities embedded in all policies.
The Government is driving its health inequalities strategy through its missions, and in particular, the Health Mission. Our Health Mission, in England, as set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan, is focusing on addressing the social determinants of health, in a strategic way, with the goal of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
This includes a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future, to ensure that the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. By tackling the underlying drivers of ill-health, the Government will take a united, mission-led approach to addressing inequalities.
We will distribute NHS funding more equally locally, so that it is better aligned with local health needs. We recognise the additional complexity of delivering care in communities with high levels of ill health and understand the importance of ensuring funding for core services is distributed equitably between practices across the country.
We will also establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community, beginning with places where healthy life expectancy is lowest. Neighbourhood health centres will co-locate NHS, local authority, and voluntary sector services, to help create an offer that meets population needs holistically.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with healthy life expectancy varying widely across and between communities. To tackle the gap in healthy life expectancy, health inequalities will be a golden thread running through work across the Department and across the Government, with addressing health inequalities embedded in all policies.
The Government is driving its health inequalities strategy through its missions, and in particular, the Health Mission. Our Health Mission, in England, as set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan, is focusing on addressing the social determinants of health, in a strategic way, with the goal of halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions.
This includes a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future, to ensure that the NHS is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. By tackling the underlying drivers of ill-health, the Government will take a united, mission-led approach to addressing inequalities.
We will distribute NHS funding more equally locally, so that it is better aligned with local health needs. We recognise the additional complexity of delivering care in communities with high levels of ill health and understand the importance of ensuring funding for core services is distributed equitably between practices across the country.
We will also establish a neighbourhood health centre in every community, beginning with places where healthy life expectancy is lowest. Neighbourhood health centres will co-locate NHS, local authority, and voluntary sector services, to help create an offer that meets population needs holistically.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans for the expansion of Marmot Places throughout the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to addressing the United Kingdom’s stark health inequalities by tackling the social determinants of health, which includes halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.
We therefore welcome the ongoing initiative shown by local areas towards this end, including by those seeking designation as Marmot Places, with support from the Institute of Health Equity. However, this is a matter for local decision making and collaboration between the relevant partner agencies.
Arrangements in relation to support for Marmot Places in the rest of the UK are a matter for the respective devolved administrations.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether perinatal mental illnesses are being adequately identified and treated; whether they have made any assessment of the links between (1) perinatal mental illness and emotional and behavioural problems in children, and (2) perinatal mental illness and intergenerational cycles of poverty; whether, as a result of any such assessment, they intend to take steps to tackle any under-identification of perinatal mental illness; and if so, what steps.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Perinatal mental illness covers a wide range of conditions. Although the Government has made no formal assessment of the links between perinatal mental health and intergenerational poverty, we stated in the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health that if left untreated, it can have significant and long-lasting effects not only on the woman but also on the emotional, social and cognitive development of children.
The Government is committed to improving both the detection and treatment of perinatal mental illness. General practitioners and primary care teams have a crucial role in supporting the identification and treatment of perinatal mental illness, including post-natal depression, and are part of an integrated pathway of services. Support includes monitoring early onset conditions, providing pre-conception counselling and referring women to specialist mental health services, including Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services and specialist perinatal community teams, if necessary.
To date, NHS England and Health Education England has also funded training for over 3,000 staff and professionals in mental health, maternity services and primary care to better identify and support women with perinatal mental health needs.
We are investing £365 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year are able to access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period. This investment is designed to improve access to specialist perinatal mental health services across England, resulting in better outcomes for women and their families.
In addition, the NHS Long Term Plan, includes a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24, building on the additional 30,000 women who will access these services each year by 2020/21 under pre-existing plans. Specialist care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support.
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to (1) collate Safeguarding Adult Reviews in relation to the deaths of homeless people, and (2) conduct a review to identify patterns and amend policy accordingly.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
We have not provided guidance, instructions or resources to local authorities for Safeguarding Adult Reviews related to the death of homeless people.
At present we do not hold data on how many homeless people died in the last year. Our statistics on Adult Safeguarding Reviews does not include information on place of residence, however, the Office for National Statistics is preparing to publish official estimates in December as experimental statistics.