§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of inequalities in access to health care services in England and their relationship with income inequality; and if he will make a statement. [77797]
§ Ms Blears[holding answer 29 October 2002]: The NHS Plan emphasised the importance of reducing inequalities in access to national health service service as part of an overall effort to improve health and reduce inequality.
Following the assessment of the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health, it recognised that the worst health problems will not be tackled without dealing with their fundamental causes, including poverty and economic and social disadvantage.
That is why we introduced national health inequalities targets in 2001:
starting with children under one year, by 2010 to reduce by at least 10 per cent., the gap in mortality between "routine and manual" groups and the population as a whole.starting with local authorities, by 2010 to reduce by at least 10 per cent., the gap between the fifth of areas with the lowest life expectancy at birth and the population as a whole.and gave priority to improving access of care to all services and reducing health inequalities in "Improvement, Expansion and Reform: The Next Three Years", the priorities and planning framework for 2003–06 published on 2 October.