Phase one

Health Inequalities Scrutiny Programme – Phase one

Phase one of the programme ran from July 2009 to March 2011. The programme was created as traditionally scrutiny reviews have focused on tangible services; however we wanted to show the role that scrutiny can have in helping an area to better understand the inequalities that they face and actions that they can take to tackle these issues. The programme had two main objectives:

1. To recruit Scrutiny Development Areas to help to develop solutions to long-standing inequalities.
2. To produce a document that showcased the learning from these areas and helped other councils to carry out similar reviews.

Recruiting Scrutiny Development Areas (SDAs)

10 SDAs were recruited in January 2010. They all started and concluded their scrutiny reviews in 2010/2011. We followed their journeys closely so that the learning from what they did could be published more widely to the sector. A staggering 13.5% of councils (47 in total) in England took part in the programme; either on their own or in partnership.

Showcasing the work to the Sector

The Centre has used the insight and learning from the SDAs to inform the publication. “Peeling the onion” follows their journey - it:

Explores scrutiny as an important and effective public health tool.
Looks at the journey undertaken by each of the scrutiny reviews – the practical application of scrutiny.
Identifies the common learning and “key attributes” of an effective health inequalities scrutiny review.
Highlights new and refines existing ways of carrying out reviews – showcasing new models of scrutiny, different ways to engage communities, top tips and also the process of action learning.
Describes a benchmark for effective scrutiny reviews – to help the sector to undertake similar scrutiny reviews.

You can download Peeling the Onion here. Please note it is a large resource and may take a few moments to load.

For more information, you can contact;

Su Turner,
Principal Consultant,
su.turner@cfps.org.uk
07795 294052