We have published a deprivation report which looks at people’s health needs, how they use services, how we should test any potential solutions to the challenges we have identified and what we should put in place to make sure people from deprived communities are not disadvantaged by any potential changes.
The key findings from the deprivation report show:
• There are pockets of severe deprivation within the combined geographies, although taken as a whole the combined area has limited deprivation;
• The 11 pockets of deprivation (classed as areas in the most deprived 20% nationally) are in several fairly concentrated locations in Sutton (seven pockets) and Merton (four pockets);
• There is a wealth of evidence that deprived communities have worse health outcomes than non-deprived communities, however there is less evidence linking deprivation with the need for the specific major acute services we are looking at;
• Health inequality is an important factor that will not be solved by the location of major acute services.
The full report is on our website.
The findings from this deprivation report will inform the next phase of our work, which is an Integrated Impact Assessment. This work will begin in November.