Healthcare Provision: Inequalities

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Monday 20th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

We have discussed national insurance contributions a number of times in your Lordships’ House, and I can only repeat the previous assurance, given not just by me but by other Ministers: that in making the decision, the Chancellor took into account not just the funding available—for example, in the Department of Health and Social Care, which was notable and welcome—but the impact.

In respect of rural areas, the national approach to inform action to improve equality in healthcare does define groups, including those in rural and coastal communities, so I can assure the noble Baroness that this issue does get the attention she seeks.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, to address inequalities we need better data. We have heard from noble Lords about granular data in some areas, but in many areas we still need to collect data and publish it in a much more granular manner, based on region, ethnicity and income, but also other measures. What are the Government doing to improve the collection of data, and particularly its granularity, so that we can address these inequalities?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord about the importance of data. We have discussed this a number of times in respect of racial inequalities. But it is not just about data; it is also about the use of digital services. We must ensure that those in the most deprived areas are not excluded because of their inability to deal with digital aspects. As the noble Lord knows, moving from analogue to digital is another core part of what we are doing. I assure him that we are improving data collection and its availability and use.