Priority setting for health equality – searching for an ethical framework

Germain, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2697-6039 and Newdick, C. (2025) Priority setting for health equality – searching for an ethical framework. Health Economics, Policy and Law. pp. 1-14. ISSN 1744-134X doi: 10.1017/s1744133125100224

Abstract/Summary

Compounded by 14 years of public welfare austerity, health equality presents a challenge that extends beyond healthcare in isolation because it also engages the more recondite politics of public health. Recent policy has addressed the issue by requiring National Health Service (NHS) bodies to integrate their services with those of local authorities. We consider how this adds significant new difficulty to the already complex process of NHS resource allocation. We argue that these duties require a new framework to gauge the values, evidence and criteria needed to set priorities for public health; not simply as a desirable objective, but a necessity in law. We consider current approaches to priority setting for medical treatment, and the responses already offered by current ethical frameworks. We then discuss the new ethical, political, and practical challenges posed by public health priority setting for health equality. Informed by this context, we engage an intersectional lens to explore a ‘non-ideal’ solution grounded in Professor Sir Michael Marmot’s framework to reduce health inequalities.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/125529
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/s1744133125100224
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > School of Law
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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