Effects of health reform on socio-economic equity in health care

Abstract: In this talk, I will summarise and discuss the findings of three empirical studies investigating the effects on socio-economic equity in health care of the pro-competition “Blair/Brown” reforms of the English NHS in the 2000s.  The studies are all part of a recently completed research project funded by the NIHR SDO Programme under the auspices of the DH Health Reform Evaluation Programme.  Much of the material is unpublished work in progress, intended for discussion rather than citation or publication.  The methods developed in this project can be used and refined to monitor change in socio-economic equity in health care at both national and local levels, and to identify the equity effects of future NHS reforms