... especially not good news...The National Audit Office's report, Tackling inequalities in life expectancy in areas with the worst health and deprivation, takes a long, hard look at DH's achievements as regards inequalities. And the verdict? A good effort, but not exactly value for money.
"The Department of Health has made a concerted effort to tackle a very difficult and long-standing problem. However, it was slow to take action and health inequalities were not a top priority for the NHS until 2006. We recognize that this is a very complicated issue and that it took time to develop an evidence base. However, the best, cost-effective interventions have been identified and now must be employed on a larger scale in order to have a greater impact and improve value for money.
"The Department should target its efforts on the most deprived areas of the country and develop costed proposals to maintain or increase investment in preventative interventions to tackle the conditions which lead to health inequalities."
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 2 July 2010.
Health Policy Insight casts a wise look back to Julian Tudor Hart's inverse care law.
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