Briefing / Using cost data to address health inequalities

Recent NHS planning guidance has set out the role of NHS bodies in addressing health inequalities, with integrated care systems (ICSs) having a specific responsibility to ensure that their planning and delivery addresses inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access.

Robust data is key to shining a light on health inequalities, and supporting health systems with their plans to address them. Costing practitioners have started to explore how they can support this agenda using patient-level costing data (PLICS).

This briefing has been written to support costing practitioners understand how they can play a role in tackling health inequalities. First the legal responsibilities and national guidance are set out. This is followed by links to resources and support. The final section provides examples of work undertaken by costing practitioners in NHS trusts to support local initiatives on health inequalities.