Commentary on Sections The health service: overview Section 4 - The Secretary of State’s duty as to reducing inequalities
79.This section inserts new section 1C into the NHS Act, which places a further duty on the Secretary of State when exercising his or her functions in relation to the health service. The duty is for the Secretary of State, when exercising his functions in relation to the health service, to have regard to the need to reduce inequalities between the people of England in respect of the benefits that may be obtained by them from the health service. This would include consideration of the need to reduce inequalities in access to health services and the outcomes achieved. This duty encompasses the Secretary of State’s functions in relation to both the NHS and public health and relates to all the people of England.
80.Equivalent duties to consider the need to reduce inequalities are placed on the NHS Commissioning Board and on CCGs in later sections in this Part. This includes consideration of the need to reduce inequalities in access to health services and the outcomes achieved.
81.Later sections in this Part require the Secretary of State, the NHS Commissioning Board and CCGs to include in their annual reports an assessment of how effectively they have discharged their duties as to reducing inequalities.
82.In addition, later sections in this Part require the NHS Commissioning Board and CCGs to include in their business plan (NHS Commissioning Board) and commissioning plans (CCGs) an explanation of how each of them proposes to discharge their respective duties, in the exercise of their functions, to have regard to the need to reduce inequalities. The duty imposed by new section 14Z16 of the NHS Act requires the NHS Commissioning Board to include in the annual performance assessment of CCGs an assessment of how well CCGs have discharged their duties as to the need to reduce inequalities.