Easing the Pain

Across Wales patients need a similar level of care and accessRehabilitation, recovery and reducing health inequity: easing the pain 5 to rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation is vital to maximising outcomes for patients, and allowing people to live their lives to their full potential. [...] The unequal access and barriers to rehabilitation outlined in this report exacerbates health inequalities across Scotland and the UK. [...] Building rehabilitation quality and capacity as an equal pillar of healthcare is key to achieving this.Rehabilitation, recovery and reducing health inequity: easing the pain 15 Recommendations for action All UK Governments have made commitments to address inadequate rehabilitation and disparities in healthy life expectancy. [...] Recommendations for England Department of Health and Social Care ■ Develop a cross-Government strategy to reduce health inequities. ■ Update the NHS constitution to include a commitment to reducing the gap in healthy life expectancy with rehabilitation embedded as a key solution. [...] Rehabilitation, recovery and reducing health inequity: easing the pain 17 Health and Wellbeing Boards ■ Adopt outcome measures for access to community rehabilitation to reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030. [...] Recommendations for Scotland Scottish Government ■ Ensure that addressing health inequalities is enshrined in Health and Social Care legislation and specified in implementation plans of the Rehabilitation framework. [...] Box 2 Some of the conditions where people routinely miss out on essential rehabilitation Rehabilitation for people with COPD is proven to improve quality of life, reduce hospital admissions and reduce length of stay in hospital. [...] This needs to be disaggregated and cut with a health inequity lens to ensure that services and interventions are inclusive of marginalised communities and to ensure the gap is not being inadvertently widened. [...] ■ plans to improve data collection in community services and utilisation of population health data. [...] Rehabilitation, recovery and reducing health inequity: easing the pain 38 Case studies Carmarthenshire Home First – Wales Carmarthenshire Home First provides care and rehabilitation for people to come out of hospital as swiftly as possible, allowing recovery at home and in their community.