8 July 2025

Dr Irem Patel reflects on the recent ‘Festival of Action’ in Sheffield, at which Irem shared work from within King’s Health Partners and across South East London Integrated Care System focusing on improving health equity through prevention.

Kirsten Major, Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, reflected at the event:

The great thing about today is that it is focused on action and…what we can all go away and do differently tomorrow.

The purpose of today is to share, be inspired, and learn.

Reflections from Dr Irem Patel

I recently had the privilege of joining the Festival of Action organised by partners across health and social care in Sheffield, which focused on practical ways of addressing health inequity.  

Dr Andy Snell, Public Health Consultant at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, reflected on the inspirational conversations and initiatives shared through the Festival of Action from across health and social care, including patient-, community-, and charity-driven approaches. Andy emphasised in the opening presentation that health inequity is unfair, avoidable, and systematic – and drives costs in healthcare: 50% of the variation in A&E attendances is described by inequality…this is getting worse…but we can do something about it!”, including through:

  • Making every contact count through conversations that are holistic and consider prevention priorities, including the impact of poverty, isolation, poor housing, and emotional difficulties.
  • Fairer and targeted services across everything we do – using “good enough data” that is clinically meaningful, relevant, and available.
  • Flexing our wider influence – to advocate for improving health and health inequalities, including through improving the local economy and environment.

This resonates with so much of the effort we have been supporting through King’s Health Partners, working with partners across health and care through partnerships within the South East London Integrated Care System. Population health initiatives need to focus on improving physical and mental health and wellbeing, reducing health inequity, including through preventing illness by addressing the social determinants of health. This approach is not just about treating illness but about understanding and acting on the broader factors that influence health outcomes.

This has been our shared focus from the beginning of developing the Vital 5, which targets five modifiable risk factors — smoking, alcohol use, mental health, blood pressure, and healthy weight. Through community outreach, digital health tools, and proactive screening, approaches such as the Vital 5 Check can empower residents to understand and improve their health. People in the communities we serve are leading many of these developments, such as through the PEACS programme for chronic pain.

The presentations and conversations throughout the Festival of Action highlighted the opportunities to learn from one another and act together. As I reflected at the end, the festival’s emphasis on hope and action together was energising and inspiring.

The organiser, Dr Rachel Evans, Chief Registrar and Emergency Medicine Registrar at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said at the close:

We have to stop admiring the problems, and start admiring the solutions – avoiding reinventing the wheels by sharing and learning, including listening and learning from patients.