Lancashire and Cumbria Health Equity Commission

In early 2021, health and care leaders from across Lancashire & Cumbria committed to form a Health Inequalities Commission to improve health inequalities and make a step change in people’s health. This has now been renamed as the Health Equity Commission (HEC).

The Chair of our Health Equity Commission is Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Professor of Epidemiology at University College London, Director of the University College London Institute of Health Equity, and Past President of the World Medical Association.

The Health Equity Commission will consist of a balanced panel comprising leaders/influencers and independent experts from across Lancashire and Cumbria. It aims to provide local organisations, partners and place-based partnerships the support to make health inequalities and the ‘prevention agenda’ our shared priority and provide them with a clear voice in the region and across the Integrated Care System.

We are establishing the Health Equity Commission during 2021 with the aim of taking action starting in 2022. Our initial scope is:

• Influence all Lancashire and Cumbria partners in mobilising care to reduce health inequalities and its role in the economy
• Focus on the social determinants for health, with reference to poverty/deprivation, building on the work of the health focus in the Local Enterprise Partnerships and the Greater Lancashire Plan and equivalent Cumbria plan
• Creating healthy and sustainable places and communities with a focus on empowerment of people in decision-making that shapes policy at neighbourhood, place and system
• Creating good/healthy workforce and a focus on technology and innovation that supports prevention to aid economic recovery
• Important times of life, in particular giving children and young people a good start in life with a focus on the first 1000 days

During autumn 2021 we are asking partners in place-based partnerships, public health and Health and Wellbeing Boards to help shape this scope and Healthy Equity Commission agenda to one that will support them, system partners and our communities to best address our long-standing health inequalities. We need them to identify their priorities, barriers to their work and opportunities/ideas that the Health Equity Commission can help them deliver and resolve.

Our aim is to introduce the Health Equity Commission, its purpose and ambitions and ask for support to change our region for the better. The target audience is deliberately wide so we can engage the leaders, stakeholders and deliverers of health care but also those that affect health through the wider determinants of health, such as housing, employment/economy, transport, place, community and many more.

This means ‘Introducing the Health Equity Commission’ will address colleagues and organisations linked to regional partnerships within the system, place, local authorities, universities, VCFSE, economic bodies (such as our Local Enterprise Partnerships), key services including our Police and fire and rescue services, housing and care providers. Infact, the reduction of health inequalities is everyone's business so we are welcoming everyone who wants to make a difference and improve the lives of Lancashire and Cumbria residents.

Our launch webinar

In September 2021, we held a webinar to launch the Health Equity Commission. This is available to watch using the link below. 

Workshops

As part of our information and intelligence gathering process, we have been running themed workshops with local Government, Health providers and the wider NHS, the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector, Academia with the Universities in the region, Community Networks, and Housing representatives. These focused themed groups have looked at the needs and issues for children and young people, housing, older adults, the economy, leadership and mental health. These have all been well attended with good representation from each of the afore mentioned sectors. We would like to thank everyone for their contributions. The notes from the discussions can be found using the link below. If you have any queries please contact us via  elccg.hec@nhs.net

Local people encouraged to have your say

Find out more about getting involved or having your say if you are a member of the public and want to share your views on population health in your area.

HEC presentations of evidence

HEC Panel

This page uses language which is being used nationally as part of the development of integrated care. You may find this glossary of terms helpful.