Health Equity Group

What is the purpose of this expert advisory group?

The Health Equity Group (HEG) is a collaboration of people passionate about promoting equitable access to high-quality kidney care for all patients across London, regardless of their socio-economic status, ethnicity, or other demographic factors.

HEG focus on reducing health inequalities in the Kidney pathway and addressing the unique needs of London’s diverse population.

 

Group chairs

Gavin Dreyer

Nephrologist – Barts Health NHS Trust

Deepa Kariyawasam

Dietitian – King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

“We are grateful to have proven experts in kidney health equity in our group, who represent patients, charity partners, and health care professionals.  These people work together to help the LKN Workstreams identify inequalities andwork to reduce them.  This will allow all London Kidney Units to provide a service that is accessible and meets the needs of all communities.”

Gavin and Deepa

Health Equity in London

Health inequalities within London have long been apparent, and in some cases continue to increase. Both COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis provide further exacerbate the challenges faced by those already facing or at risk of health  inequalities.  Access to timely diagnosis, the types of treatments offered, and how quickly those are provided, can all be impacted by where people live, their socio-demographic background, and their ethnicity.  The LKN Health Equity Group is comitted to identing unwarrented variation, and working collaboratively to make changes.  This will support the delivery of our vision:  that everyone can access the best treatment for them, when they need it. 

Aims and objectives of the group:

Aims and Objectives

The Health and Equity group (HEG) aim to:

    • Increase equality of access to kidney care across London for all those in identified at risk groups and
    • Reduce in-built inequalities within the kidney pathway.

The HEG will:

    • Deliver targeted health equity improvement across the LKN to assure inclusive and equitable access to kidney care for all
    • Highlight existing inequalities for people with kidney disease and
    • Support the kidney workforce to address and reduce the impact of these inequalities in their daily practice.
    • Create a live inventory of pilots, successful practices and contacts within renal and other services within the UK addressing health equity to be used as a resource for LKN service groups including patients.
    • Develop research priorities to improve health equity in renal care within the LKN units based on local data informed by health equity priorities for patients and health care professionals.

I found working  with the Health Equity Group as a patient rep very rewarding. The collaboration between patients and decision-makers is essential to delivering improved outcomes for patients and seeing this in action, made me feel useful and valued. Using my experience as a patient for the benefit of others was great, but even more than that, my professional and personal experiences were also valued and appreciated. I would recommend it to all patients!

Gillian King, Patient Rep

Workstream Members

Gavin Dreyer

Nephrologist – Barts Health NHS Trust

Deepa Kariyawasam

Dietitian – King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Kate Bramham

Nephrologist – King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Catherine Croucher

Consultant in Public Health – NHSE

Sajeeda Youssouf

Nephrologist – Barts Health NHS Trust

Neel Basudev

South East London GP Lead

Ben Oliveira

Nephrologist – GSTT

Gillian King

Patient Representative

Jonathan Bartley

UKKC Patient Advocate

Carlos Simon Tellez

Renal General Manager – Barts Health NHS Trust

Mariza Procopio

LKN Project Manager

Published Guidelines

Health Equity Toolkit – View PDF

Published Reports

LKN Health Equity Audit 2022 – Read More

Other Resources

The Health Equity Education Module introduces the concepts of health inequalities and health inequity. It highlights the unequal health outcomes experienced by people living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and covers practical ideas to tackle health inequalities for staff working with kidney patients. ​ 

You can view the module here. Health Equity Education Module.