Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the indicators measuring under-75 mortality rates in (1) the NHS Outcomes Framework, and (2) the Clinical Commissioning Groups Outcomes Indicator Set, are compatible with the obligations against age discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

One of the underpinning principles of the NHS Outcomes Framework is to ensure that it encourages the promotion of equality in line with the Equality Act 2010.

The Domain 1 premature mortality indicators in the NHS Outcomes Framework and Clinical Commissioning Groups Outcomes Indicator Set are capped at age 75 because the attribution of the cause of death is more vexed for older people, who often have co-morbidities. Therefore, including those aged 75 and above could lead these indicators to become misleading.

However, to ensure all age groups are covered equally, ‘Life Expectancy at 75’ is an overarching indicator in Domain 1 of the NHS Outcomes Framework. This indicator captures ages 75 and over and all conditions.

The above information is contained in the NHS Outcomes Framework 2011-12 Equalities Impact Assessment and the NHS Outcomes Framework 2011-12, both of which have already been placed in the Library.