RCN Scotland campaign to tackle health inequalities

As a new YouGov poll revealed that 62% of people in Scotland believe health inequalities are unfair, more needs to be done to improve the health of people living in the most deprived areas, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland.

Health inequalities, i.e., the health of those living in the best social, environmental and economic conditions compared to that of those living in the worst, are getting worse despite national initiatives such as the ban on smoking in public places and campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption.

The RCN Scotland believes more action should be taken at an individual and community level to improve the health of the people who most need it.

To help tackle the issue, a new campaign website has been launched. ‘Nursing at the Edge’ features the work of a number of nurses leading services that aim to reduce health inequalities. The website explores the problems faced by people who exist on the edges of society: those who are poor, homeless, living with mental health challenges or drug and alcohol problems, ex-prisoners and the socially disenfranchised.

Theresa Fyffe, Director of RCN Scotland said: “Instead of further discussion on the possible causes of health inequalities, action needs to be taken now to improve the health and lives of people living in Scotland’s worst-off communities. This is not just because it’s the right thing to do – it will also save money: Audit Scotland estimates that if the death rate in the most deprived groups in Scotland improved around £10 billion would be saved. There are many examples of nurses working alongside other health and social care professionals to provide services that are designed around the needs of individual people. These services, though, are often the victims of short-term funding and cuts.

“We want to see the NHS and councils working together to implement more of these services and put them on a sustainable footing – especially as one of the key objectives of the new health and social care integration partnerships is to reduce health inequalities. This is a deep-seated problem that requires time and commitment to be put right.”

“People trust health care staff to make the right decisions by the people they work with much more than they trust politicians. So, we’d like a commitment from our national politicians to let local people get on with the job.

“They should not criticise from the sidelines when a health board, council or new integration authority makes a decision – based on sound evidence – to prioritise investment in a service aimed at people living in our most disadvantaged communities over those for our better-off communities. Some of these decisions will be hard to swallow, especially given that most people want funding for services aimed at reducing health inequalities to be prioritised only if other services are not affected. However, when times are tight, this is not always going to be possible.

“Providing long-term sustainable funding for such services is also a necessity. This way we would have a chance of improving the lives of people living in the harshest of circumstances and actually start closing the gap in health between the best-off and worst-off in Scotland’s society.”

Visit the Nursing at the Edge website for full details of the campaign www.rcn.org.uk/nursingattheedge