Wider determinants of health is not a new concept. Whilst Public Health England has long expressed the importance of the effect of these poorly defined metrics, little has been done to link them to existent effective services that can result in measurable improvements in determinants that result in improved health outcomes.

We aim to collect and validate existing wider determinants of health metrics,and combine these into a hierarchy of impactibility. We will do so by calculating the total impact on population health whilst taking into account the potential to improve the given metric against existing services.

This would inform the design of a dashboard that not only helps local providers better understand their population, but also equip them with the means to do something about this. We have been in discussions with multiple parties on both the NHSE and provider side, as well as arms length policy bodies; the consensus is that their is a clear need for linking wider determinants and services to better serve the population.

As an NHS led organisation, we would aim to pilot our work in our local geography with publicly available data, ultimately looking to make this available as a nation wide dashboard should we be successful. We want to see wider determinants to be seen as enablers of good health, not predictors of poor health.