Public Health England launches new project to tackle health inequalities

The government is launching a new project that aims to provide a better understanding of the English public's perception and experience of health inequalities.

Conducted by Public Health England, the exercise will involve speaking with public health professionals and community leaders, as well as holding a series of workshops with members of the public to gain insights into how they live.

These workshops will explore local solutions that may help to mitigate inequalities, with this knowledge to be collated for wider use on a local and national level. Public Health England wishes to know how people are affected by inequality and hear suggestions on how to address it.

Currently, people living in the poorest neighbourhoods will on average die seven years earlier than people living in the richest areas, a discrepancy the government is keen to correct.

Ann Marie Connolly, director of health equity and impact at Public Health England, said: "We are interested in better understanding how the public identify and describe health inequalities and want to hear about solutions that may work locally."

In December 2013, NHS England moved to address this problem by changing the way in which funding for local health services is calculated and allocated, in order to rectify the problem of underfunding in certain deprived areas.