Find out more about our 2022–2027 Health inequalities programme here.

There are significant life expectancy gaps (of up to 9 years) and healthy life expectancy gaps (of up to 18 years) between the most and least deprived neighbourhoods and between different socio-economic groups. There are also inequalities in health linked to other axes of difference and disadvantage, notably gender, ethnicity, geography and disability – as well as for the most vulnerable groups in society (e.g. homeless, children in care, and victims of domestic violence). Health inequalities are estimated to account for 20% of the total costs of healthcare. Inequalities in health outcomes and health-related practices are largely socially determined.  We work to embed a health inequalities perspective across SPHR in all areas of our work.

A health inequalities lens is applied to all of the research and evaluation work conducted in the SPHR. All proposed projects undertaken within the School are assessed in terms of their equality implications.  To facilitate this, the NIHR CLAHRC North West Coast Health Inequalities Assessment Toolkit (HIAT) will be used to audit all of our research.