Written by Eileen Taylor, Acting Trust Chair.
The ELFT Board, on its journey to become a “Marmot Trust” had the enormous privilege of spending time with Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity and leader of research on health inequalities for nearly 50 years.
Professor Marmot shared facts that illustrate the bleak state of health in the country, but also that there is light in committed people on the ground making a difference by embedding the 8 principles, identified in his research, that address the social determinants of health.
ELFT is committed to:
• Give every child the best start in life
• Enable everyone to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives
• Create fair employment and a good life for all
• Ensure a healthy standard of living for all
• Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities
• Address structural racism
• Tackle climate change.
We heard from Sarah Price, Interim Chief Officer of the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership about how they are implementing the Marmot principles to become a Marmot City Region.
Our board colleague Richard Carr shared his long experience of working in senior roles in local government. Richard challenged us to recognize the convening powers of local government and the roles they have long played in enabling residents to become self-sufficient which necessarily address the social determinants of health. Richard encouraged us to think about the offer local government brings and to see how ELFT can piggyback on their important work.
Our board colleague Professor Sir Sam Everington, as a GP, reminded us that 90% of consultations in the NHS come through primary care which has fantastic knowledge of what is going on in the local community. Sam reminded us that social prescribing, again addressing the social determinants of health, started in Tower Hamlets.
Working with these valuable inputs, the board reflected on next steps. We need to:
• Take stock of the assets within ELFT that align with addressing the Marmot principles
• Engage with all of our partners - Integrated Care systems, local government, our communities, schools, voluntary organisations, police and fire services and importantly, our staff, and service users to co-produce how we will take this forward