Independent Evaluation of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP)

NHS England’s Innovation for Healthcare Inequalities Programme (InHIP) aims to address healthcare inequalities experienced by under-served populations[1]. This national project is characterised by project teams working with their local communities to improve access to health technologies and medicines, aligned with the five Core20PLUS5[2] clinical areas of priority. Within Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW), the local focus of InHIP was to increase hypertension (HTN) and atrial fibrillation (AF) clinical checks for people living in the most deprived areas of the region. The objective was to increase access to services through outreach and engagement of local at-risk populations at community-based cardiovascular disease (CVD) testing events. Five Primary Care Networks (PCNs) located in the most deprived areas of Southampton and Portsmouth participated in the project and ran community-based events. These were Southampton Central PCN, Portsdown Practice Group, Woolston and Townhill PCN, Living Well PCN, and Strawberry Health PCN. PCNS were identified by the Index of Multiple Deprivation in the first instance, followed by further scoping to ascertain their capability and capacity to engage with the project.

The programme also supported Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to generate evidence on their pilot approaches via evaluation.  The HIOW evaluation aimed to understand the outcomes of the InHIP approach from a variety of perspectives, including those of members of the public attending community testing events, the perspectives of healthcare staff and trusted community leaders involved in the delivery and co-design of InHIP, as well as outcomes on access to testing, diagnosis and associated clinical pathways. The evaluation was designed with a view to informing future commissioning decisions in HIOW ICS.