Ten-year plan development ‘lacking diversity’

Government must “move quickly” to address a lack of diversity in responses to its 10-year plan consultation, an adviser on the work has warned.

Health and social care secretary Wes Streeting admitted last month that several groups have been heavily under-represented in the high-profile online engagement exercise, which began in October.

Just 1% of responses are from Black African, Caribbean and Black British groups, who make up 4% of England’s population, while 3% are from an Asian background, who represent 10% of the population.

Mr Streeting, acknowledging these “disparities and inequalities” to the Commons health and social care committee last month, said: “I want to nail [them] in the rest of this consultation period.”

Jacob Lant, CEO of service user group National Voices and lead of one of the 10-year plan policy workstreams, said: “The public engagement exercise has been very ambitious in both its scale and speed, and it is good to see the [Department of Health and Social Care] actually investing in this sort of activity to ensure policy decisions are based on what matters most to patients.

“It’s also encouraging the [health and social care secretary] is in reflective mode and is acknowledging the groups who have not had their say so far. It’s vital the process moves quickly now to fill those engagement gaps, and with the right support the VCSE sector can play a vital role in helping the government reach key communities over the next few months as the 10-year plan takes shape.”

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Source: HSJ, 3 January 2025