Recently, Chamber hosted the first of its regional Integrating Healthcare Seminar series, in partnership with IQVIA. This was held in Manchester where MPs and the Shadow Minister for Public Health, Andrew Gwynne, primarily discussed health inequalities. Mr Gwynne addressed an in-person and online audience.
The series will bring together leaders across the NHS, life sciences and national/local government to discuss public health in specific regions and across the UK. This year, Chamber are hosting future events in Birmingham, London, Leeds and Glasgow.
Tackling health inequalities
Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish was appointed by Sir Keir Starmer for the position of Shadow Minister for Public Health in 2021 after originally holding the position between 2015-2016. Mr Gwynne is hugely passionate about health inequalities and says that tackling them is one of his biggest priorities. Engaging the audience, Mr Gwynne discussed how his desire to resolve health inequalities stems from his childhood.
“I grew up in Denton West, which is one of the better areas in Denton but my best friend at school grew up in Denton South. We went to the same school, had the same interests, and hung around at the same spots yet his life expectancy was ten years less than mine. This is a burning social injustice, and it cannot be acceptable. What I didn’t know then was the wider determinants of health such as access to affordable food, access to green spaces, the money you earn, whether your parents smoke etc. Deprivation is linked to health not because poor people choose to suffer but because of a complex web of detriments that cause general health to worsen in certain communities”.
How to narrow health inequalities
Gwynne rightly made the point that if you asked a room full of people whether where you were brought up should have a detrimental impact on your health then the answer would likely be a resounding “no”. However, Gwynne contended that there are other prevailing assumptions in society that people make about health and well-being that need to change as “too many people look at public health as an individual choice”.
There is a feeling that if you want to be healthy, just be healthy. This line of thought doesn’t sit well with me. If it worked, then we would not be facing some of the highest obesity rates in Europe and health inequalities wouldn’t be widening. The sort of questions that we should be asking are ‘How can we improve access to good food and education?’ and ‘How can we guarantee that everyone has good housing standards and well-paid work?’”.
The importance of prevention
Gwynne argues that the primary way to solve health inequalities is “all about prevention”. He says for too long the government has adopted a “Whack-A-Mole” strategy where are problem appears and they react, only for another one to then appear after the initial one is solved. By getting ahead of the game, they can put this sort of strategy behind them.
“Preventing people from being sick, preventing people from dying young and preventing them from developing health complications. Departmental integration is an essential part of tackling these problems. We need buy-in from every department in central and local government to make a difference because it will take more than action simply from the health secretary as health is so linked with everything else”.
The Shadow Public Health Minister then discussed how a Labour government would install preventative measures into society – one way would be through school breakfast clubs, while another would be by increasing the national minimum wage.
Question time
After his speech had concluded, Andrew Gwynne faced a series of questions from audience members. One of the most interesting questions came from someone who asked him how he would go about transforming the culture with the NHS. While Gwynne acknowledged the importance of bringing down wait times and waiting lists, he also said that he would like to see the NHS move away from archaic processes and progress with the times.
Explaining how a hospital in Tameside has carried this out Gwynne said:
“Britain is at the cutting edge of a whole range of medical and technological advances, but the NHS is slow to pick them up. At Tameside Hospital, they had an issue where when elderly and vulnerable patients in care homes became sick, the reaction of the care home was to dump them at A&E at Tameside. This had a negative impact on the hospital’s mortality figures.
One measure they introduced was teleconferencing. They employed someone called “Digital Pete” and he made it his mission to get every single care home in Tameside and Glossop connected to his hub at Tameside Hospital. This now means that if an elderly person in care becomes sick rather than the home sticking them in an ambulance the default course of action is now to contact Digital Pete who will then triage the case. Most of the cases can be dealt with online sufficiently.”
Final thought
Mr Gwynne’s keynote speech provided an insight into Labour’s plans for the health and life sciences sector if elected. As Shadow Public Health Minister, Mr Gwynne was well-positioned to discuss these important topics with leaders across the sector.
Watch the full video here.