Equity in the NHS. Monitoring and promoting equity in primary and secondary care.
Although need is often assumed to be the most important factor in determining the use of health services, there are many inequities in the provision and use of NHS services in both primary and secondary care. For example, existing data from district child health information services have been combined with census data for small areas to show wide variations in immunisation rates between affluent and deprived areas. Purchasers of health care are already responsible for assessing health needs and evaluating services, and the process of monitoring equity is a logical extension of these activities. Routine data sources used to collect activity data in both primary and secondary care can be used to assess needs for care and monitor how well these needs are met. Purchasers and providers should collaborate to improve the usefulness of these routine data and to develop a framework for monitoring and promoting equity more systematically.
Department of Public Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London.
F A
FA
Majeed
N
N
Chaturvedi
R
R
Reading
Y
Y
Ben-Shlomo
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012935:Social Justice; D013222:State Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D006113:United Kingdom