The review of health and social care has identified a renewed focus on public health and social wellbeing to tackle these health inequalities and underpin a refocusing of care provision away from acute planning and towards a major emphasis on caring for people in their own homes and communities which is implemented on the broad perspective of public health. Poverty and low living standards is an important consideration towards bridging the gap on health …show more content…
inequalities through public health.
Public health is pivotal business of all nurses, but these duties are not performed in isolation.
The RCN had set out the aims of nursing services in the delivery of public health to tackle health inequalities.
These include increasing life by taking a practical look at what constitute healthy behaviours to reduce health inequalities. To achieve these, the RCN fully set out the six key policy objectives cited in Fair Society, Health Lives project to reduce these health inequalities. The policy objectives are giving every child the best start to life, enabling all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities, creating a fair employment and good work for all, ensure a wholesome standard of living for all, creating and developing a healthy and sustainable site and communities and strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention. Poverty and low living standards was an important consideration towards bridging the gap on health inequalities through public
health.
The current health reforms in England must ensure that local Health and Wellbeing Boards, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Public Health England are held accountable for closing the inequality gap. Strategies for reducing health inequalities will never be effective if these organisations fail to address the endemic social and economic inequality in the UK.
The RCN called on the Westminster direction to recognise the links between low incomes and meagre material and mental health which contributes to the health inequalities.
In Northern Ireland, the RCN campaigned for measures to promote people health during the 2011 Assembly elections and submitted written evidence to the Review of Health and Social Care calling for the link between social deprivation and health inequality to be addressed and highlighting the key role of nursing. In Northern Ireland, the RCN had also campaigned for measures to promote people health during the 2011 Assembly elections and submitted written evidence to the Review of Health and Social Care calling for the link between social deprivation and health inequality to be addressed and highlighting the key role of nursing.