centre for public scrutiny

Health Inequalities Programme phase two

Phase two of the Health Inequalities Scrutiny Programme builds on the success of phase one.  It recognises the key role that local authorities will have for public health, health improvement and reducing inequalities, and ensure that scrutiny contributes to the evolution of Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and the production of joint health and well-being strategies.

In particular phase two will:

• Promote the role of scrutiny as an effective public health tool and the use of our publication - “Peeling the onion.”

By using the learning within “Peeling the Onion”, councils can guide themselves through a review of health inequalities – understanding the key attributes of a review, what a good review needs to have and follows the stories of the 10 original Scrutiny Development Areas (SDAs).

• Recruit and support a further 10 areas to explore these complex issues rolling out and using the learning from phase one.

Following the success of this programme, the Department of Health has provided further funding to work with a further 10 local areas – to support them to use scrutiny to tackle health inequalities and to provide a test for the above publication. 

• Develop a tool that scrutiny can use to assess the value and impact of wider determinant interventions to reduce health inequalities.

This tool will be developed by a small team and piloted on the 10 new SDAs during the course of their reviews.

Following a recruitment process, 6 areas have been chosen to become SDAs;

• Adur, Worthing and Arun Councils
• Haringey
• Liverpool
• Rotherham
• Sheffield
• Tendring

These areas have already met with their allocated expert adviser and have planned their review of health inequalities.  What's different about the scrutiny development areas this time around is that they are all using the learning within 'Peeling the Onion' to inform their reviews, and following and working to the same model that assesses the return on investment of the review, and the recommendations that they make. 

The new model aims to make scrutiny more outcome focused with clear links to the Marmot objectives and the wider determinants of health, with the ability to forecast the impact of their recommendations.  

Their findings from the six pilots will be brought together to signpost a new way of carrying out scrutiny that focuses on impacts and outcomes.  Reviews will be taking place between now and the end of December 2011.

For more information, you can contact;
Su Turner, Principal Consultant,                                                                
su.turner@cfps.org.uk
07795 294052