A project to reduce the impact of fuel poverty on vulnerable people is being promoted nationally as an example of how to tackle health inequalities.

Health Innovation North West Coast has led the scheme in Cheshire and Merseyside which has focused on adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and children with pre-school wheeze.

It uses insights derived from data to coordinate services for people whose condition may be exacerbated by living in cold homes.

A poster that explains the work has now been adopted as part of NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.

It illustrates how the programme brought together partners from the NHS, local government and the voluntary sector to deliver the scheme, and how up to 450,000 households in the region are affected by fuel poverty.

The programme used data insights to target individuals who would benefit most from an intervention and to coordinate resources across the various sectors without having to introducing new services.

The poster also underlines the scheme’s impact, including a 10 per cent reduction in GP appointments among the target group of patients living in St. Helens.

The work was submitted to the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme by Rhiannon Clarke, Senior Programme Manager at Health Innovation North West Coast in her role as a Core20PLUS5 ambassador.

Rhiannon is one of two Core20PLUS5 ambassadors at Health Innovation North West Coast. The other is Public Involvement Lead Debbie Parkinson.

Rhiannon said:

“The role of the Core20PLUS5 ambassadors is to share their experiences with colleagues so we can push health equalities up the agenda together.

“I’m really pleased with the outcome of the work we’ve done locally to mitigate the impact of fuel poverty on some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“That’s why I’m doubly pleased to share it with colleagues in other parts of the country who may be able to learn something from what we’ve done to narrow the inequality gap in their areas.”

Sara Javid, Senior Manager Strategic Partnerships – Healthcare Inequalities, NHS England, said:

“Rhiannon has successfully shown how data-led population health management and Core20PLUS5 targeting can translate into earlier intervention for people most at risk.

“Rhiannon’s work is an excellent example of prevention in practice. She has shown us that connecting existing services around a shared population health intelligence approach can strengthen early identification, improve coordination across partners and demonstrate real value for both communities and the health and care system.  

“One of the key strengths of this model is the quantifiable outcomes that Rhiannon has measured both in saving GP appointment time and economic savings. This is a scalable, evidence-informed model that supports integrated care systems to embed proactive, place-based action and deliver sustainable improvement in outcomes for those who need it the most.”

Read more on Health Innovation North West Coast’s website about how data is driving the fuel poverty mitigation project.