The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has responded to government plans to reduce health inequalities.
Dr Mumtaz Patel, president of the RCP, said: “Improved primary care in areas of health need is important to improving equity of access. No patient should face a postcode lottery for care.
“But delivering real change for the most deprived communities requires more – it demands a bold, cross-government approach to address the root causes of poor health.
“The shift from sickness to prevention is especially important for our most deprived communities. We need a much more transformative approach to deliver integrated services that are designed for and by the communities that will use them. We need prevention at the heart of policy making and NHS care, and coordinated action across all parts of government to tackle what makes us ill in the first place, from poor housing and air pollution to employment and educational opportunities.
“Government made a manifesto commitment to tackle the social determinants of health. In February this year, 72% of respondents to an RCP snapshot survey said they'd seen more patients in the previous three months with illnesses caused or worsened by those determinants. We need urgent action.
“We look forward to seeing the detail on how the 10-Year Health Plan will tackle widening inequalities in people’s health. A commitment to a dedicated cross-government strategy, as the RCP and Inequalities in Health Alliance have been calling for, will be key.”
- The Labour party manifesto said: ‘As part of our health mission, Labour will tackle the social determinants of health, halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions in England.’
- In its health mission published before the UK general election, Labour committed to a health mission delivery board to ‘bring together all government departments with an influence over the social determinants of health’
- The RCP’s first snapshot survey of 2025 was open from Monday 3 February 2025 to Sunday 16 February 2025 and covered a range of topics. 882 physicians responded to the questions on health inequalities specifically. The survey defined wider social determinants of health as ‘a diverse range of social, economic and environmental factors which impact people’s health, such as poor housing, employment, air pollution or lack of educational opportunity.’