SCW's Population Health and Health Inequalities work

Welcome to this ‘pop up’ Join the Conversation site, set up to highlight the work of NHS South, Central and West (SCW) focused on Population Health and Inequalities, and support connection and engagement with key partner organisations - including Public Health within Local Government, Integrated Care Boards, and Providers Trusts. SCW works nationally for NHS England but our key geography with local organisations is across the South West and South East of England.

As we get further into 2025/26 SCW is expanding our focus of support to build on some key areas of expertise that are relevant to local organisations and teams with public health, population health and inequalities priorities. In recent years we have undertaken substantial work for NHSE focused on Health Inequalities – including programmes on Inclusion Health, Digital Inclusion, Community Languages, Community Champions (Core20PLUS Connectors), Making Every Contact Count, and a comprehensive review of how ICS Strategies and Plans set out to contribute to reducing health and healthcare inequalities.

We also have a track-record of supporting local systems and public health teams on Smoking cessation and Tobacco control, with team members being central to the Smoke Free South West programme in the mid ’10s, and other local programmes including with Sussex and now with Bracknell Forest Council (smoking needs assessment user research). We can also support evaluation of public health interventions, for example undertaking a health-outcomes evaluation recently of the Oxfordshire Better Housing Better Health programme, and a process evaluation of the Social Prescribing funding model in Medway, commissioned by the Medway and Swale Council.

NHS South, Central and West work alongside partners including, Solutions for Public Health (SPH), The Strategy Unit and The Health Economics Unit to develop bespoke solutions for health and care organisations including public health in local government. We work closely with the national Health Inequalities and Improvement team at NHSE, developing and supporting the implementation of policy to support more equitable provision of healthcare for our communities.

We recognise that local government and NHS organisations face major financial and operational challenges, and now with substantial re-organisation getting underway in the health system and local government. In this context however, improving population health and reducing health inequalities remains a priority across systems, and we think we can contribute with cost-effective support and expertise. We invite you to look at the content here on this site and respond to the survey asking about local system priorities for health improvement.

We want to start the conversation about how we can best help you.