PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
HEALTH INEQUALITY AND CLINICAL CARE COMMISSIONING GROUPS (14 May 2012)

That this House notes the long-standing political consensus that economic deprivation is a major indicator of health care needs; endorses the conclusion of Sir Michael Marmot that the link between social conditions and health is not a footnote to the real concerns with healthbut should become the main focus; further notes that life expectancy can vary by as much as 17 years in different parts of England and that the Department of Health estimates that with equal health opportunities some 202,000 early deaths a year might be avoided; welcomes the Government's stated priority of reducing health inequalities and the view of the Public Accounts Committee that `it is important that tackling health inequalities does not slip down the Department's agenda'; further notes with concern the recent comments by the Secretary of State for Health that `age is the principal determinant of health need'; further notes the decision by Health Ministers in December 2010 to reduce by a third the weighting given to disability free life expectancy in NHS budget allocations; and calls on the Government to resist any further moves to divert funding away from areas of high deprivation during the handover of budgets in 2013 from primary care trusts to clinical care commissioning groups.

Sponsored by:
Mr Nicholas Brown (Independent)