An East Midlands project is featured in a national Health Innovation Network Report on tackling health inequalities.

The report is drawn from a roundtable discussion held in December 2024, where senior clinicians, NHS leaders, policymakers, and community representatives discussed one of the NHS’s biggest challenges: health inequalities. Panel members heard about the project in Northamptonshire, that was supported by Health Innovation East Midlands, that used innovation to offer opportunistic Atrial Fibrillation and Hypertension testing for Black African, Black Caribbean and South Asian communities in Northamptonshire. The NHS worked with local community groups and community champions during the pilot to test 424 people – identifying potentially 22 with AF, 36 with other cardiac issues and 180 with high or very high blood pressure

Using this, and the other examples and discussions at the roundtable, the report identifies six recommendations to help tackle health inequalities:

• Ensuring sustainable, multi year funding - Develop long-term investment models that capture social and economic returns on successful initiatives, preventing proven projects from stalling after initial funding cycles.
• Enabling Data Interoperability and Shared Evaluation - Create cross-agency data collaboratives and analytics capacity so local teams can link health, social, and economic metrics, monitor impact in real time, and refine interventions effectively.
• Encouraging Cross-Sector Accountability and Partnerships  - Establish shared targets across health, social care, housing, education, and community organisations, ensuring all stakeholders codesign programmes and jointly own outcomes.
• Empowering Place-Based Innovation - Use devolution levers to grant Integrated Care Systems and local leaders the authority and resources to tailor national priorities—such as Core20PLUS5—to local realities, ensuring culturally appropriate delivery.
• Strengthening Workforce Competencies in Health Inequalities - Integrate cultural competence and social determinants awareness into NHS training at all levels, enabling staff to better serve the needs of diverse and underserved communities.
• Demonstrating Impact and Value - Use comprehensive data collection to show clear returns on investment in health inequalities interventions, ensuring projects secure ongoing support from funders.

Read the full report

For  more information:

Read Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme: Impact and learning report, which shares the learning and impact of the Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP).

Read  more about the Northamptonshire programme and InHIP in the East Midlands.