Equity and Inequality: The Provision of and Access to Healthcare

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about equity and inequality in the context of the provision of and access to healthcare, focusing in particular on: (i) statistical modelling, which has proposed that differences in use of NHS services account for around one quarter of inequalities in health; (ii) the Labour government’s recognition, just before losing power to Margaret Thatcher’s conservative government, that the universal public health service did not eradicate health inequality, so there was more work to be done to improve this; (iii) the Black Report’s findings in health inequality, which were not brought to the fore of political action at the time of its publishing; (iv) the case that deprived areas in the UK have poorer quality NHS services; (v) parallels in preventative measure take-up between the Black Report and data on vaccination uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic; (vi) evidence of systematic ageism, resulting in poorer care for older people in hospitals.

About the lecturer

Professor Michael Calnan is a professor of medical sociology in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent. Professor Calnan’s research interests are in trust relations in mental health care and social influences on decision making made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Some of Professor Calnan’s recent publications include ‘How do you measure trust in social institutions and health professionals? A systematic review of the literature (2012-2021).’ (2023) and ‘Pharmaceutical policies for gaining access to high-priced medicines: a comparative analysis between England and Brazil.’ (2022).