Just Plain Sense

In the second of this series of episodes covering the recent NHS Northwest Gender Equality conferences it is the turn of the Men... Peter Baker is the Chief Executive of the Men's Health Forum -- a charity which works to improve male health in England and Wales. His presentation to us in Preston was every bit as challenging as the women's message featured in the previous episode, though markedly different. It was research by MHF that first highlighted how many NHS gender equality schemes in England appeared to have very little disaggregated evidential data, were focussed on processes rather than outcomes, or were lacking in effective consultation and involvement with service users. Many speakers stressed that equality in this context does not mean providing the same service to everyone. That's not what the law requires, and stark differences in priorities were very clear in the different messages from the men and women presenters seeking the same equality of health outcomes. Peter's presentation highlights a set of key areas where he says targetted action could be brought to bear on specific health inequalities for men; he also demonstrates how novel approaches can be used to get essential messages across to the men themselves. Click here if you would like to view and follow a handout of Peter's slides whilst listening. (PDF, 1.2Mb) In the next episode you can hear the EHRC's guidance for NHS organisations on what they expect when examining equality schemes for compliance.