Health Poverty Index

Overview

There are a wide range of factors that determine the health status of a population and which may give rise to health inequalities. Many of these health determinants arise outside the direct influence of health and social care in areas such as education, the environment, housing, employment etc.

The Health Poverty Index (HPI) tool provides a single, high level, visual summary of an area’s status in terms of health poverty. It is a composite tool reflecting many strands of ‘health poverty’ both in terms of present state of health and future health potential or lack of it. It is intended to give a summary of a local authority area’s health status in the form of a spider diagram (see below) against a comparison area (either England, another area or groups of similar areas in terms of ONS area classifications). The indicators chosen are those which are thought to best reflect the concept being measured and which have the potential to highlight inequity and inequalities. Much work has gone into the conceptual framework which underpins the HPI and into the development of new indicators not found elsewhere. This is helpful in identifying target areas and facilitating discussions within local partnerships on local priorities.

The HPI indicators cover all local authority districts in England. The tool is accessed via a web site located at www.hpi.org.uk . Currently, users are able to select and compare an area against England, similar areas in terms of ONS family classification, or another local authority. It is also possible for HPI users to compare areas against the Spearhead Group of local authority areas.

The HPI project is a joint project between SEPHO and the School of Geography and Geosciences at the University of St. Andrews and is managed by DH. Work is currently underway to produce both the ethnicity component of the HPI and to update the indicators with data for the year 2003 allowing comparison to be made with the 2001 dataset.

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Key Resources

The following is a collection of data, information and reports on health poverty index - links will open in a new window.

• HPI information and resources collection

This link takes you to the collection of HPI resources stored on the SEPHO web site.

• Health Poverty Index: an atlas of indicators for the South East, 2006

This recent publication provides a map of the South East region for each of the 26 indicators in the Health Poverty Index (HPI). The maps illustrate variations in the relative national rank of each local authority in the South East by quintile.

• Final Report: Health Poverty Index Pilot Evaluation, 2005

The aim of this pilot evaluation was to identify the current state of use and performance of the HPI for the purposes of guiding the development of the tool itself and the development of a method for its future evaluation and monitoring, using a web-based survey.

• The NHS Plan: a plan for investment, a plan for reform, 2000

The NHS Plan outlines the vision of a health service designed around the patient: a new delivery system for the NHS as well as changes between health and social services, changes for NHS doctors, for nurses, midwives, therapists and other NHS staff, for patients and in the relationship between the NHS and the private sector.

• Tackling health inequalities: Status report on the Programme for Action, 2005

The status report provides a review of developments against the data since the publication of the Programme for Action in 2003. An Executive Summary is also available.

• Tackling Health Inequalities: What Works, 2005

The Local Delivery Plan (LDP) Technical note (November 2004) set out planning requirements for the NHS, including specific
requirements on Health Inequalities. This document provides further information to support NHS Planners and Commissioners to
do that.

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Contacts

For further information you may wish to contact the HPI team at .

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Information compiled by Liz Rolfe. Last reviewed May 2006.