Health: Disadvantaged
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to allocate health capital funding to reduce health inequalities in cities where NHS Trust data records a 12-year life expectancy gap between the most and least deprived wards, such as Leicester.
Answered by Department of Health and Social Care
The Government is committed to reducing health inequalities and ensuring people can access high-quality healthcare services regardless of where they live. In support of this, annual capital health spending will rise to £15 billion by the end of the Spending Review period, 2029/30, the highest level on record.
Our 10 Year Capital Plan sets out how we will bring care closer to home with a £200 million investment over this Spending Review period to support the development of neighbourhood health centres (NHCs), alongside a further £200 million to continue upgrading the primary care estate. Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most. In March 2026, we announced the first wave of NHC upgrade schemes, with 27 sites across England selected to bring care closer to home, backed by up to £50 million.
More broadly, we are empowering local National Health Service organisations to invest in infrastructure that best meets local needs by introducing multi-year capital budgets, devolving more decision making to the frontline, and streamlining approvals to speed up delivery. This will support local systems to prioritise capital investment where it can have the greatest impact on patient outcomes and reducing inequalities.
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