Health: Coastal Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings Ministers in his department have attended in relation to coastal health inequalities in 2026.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
Ministers in the Department meet regularly on a range of topics, including tackling health inequalities, to which coastal inequalities are closely linked.
The Government has committed to act on the social determinants of health, to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, while increasing it for everyone, and to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
Work to improve outcomes in coastal communities is being progressed through a range of programmes and policy initiatives, including efforts to better align health, employment, and skills interventions, support workforce participation, and strengthen prevention and early intervention in areas with the greatest need.
This includes neighbourhood health centres, which aim to improve primary care access, addressing transport barriers and reducing reliance on acute hospitals.
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