Health Inequalities Tool

This tool is an interactive resource designed to assist Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) and NHS Boards with local planning. It highlights key issues for consideration in reducing inequalities in life expectancy.

The tool displays two types of chart for those residents of a particular CHP who are classified into the most deprived quintile (MDQ) of the whole Scottish population. Gap analysis charts show the contribution of different conditions to gaps in life expectancy between the CHP in question and the comparator population. Scarf charts are stacked bar chart summaries of the gap analysis charts. Three sets of comparator populations are available:

  • The Scottish average
  • Scotland's least deprived quintile (LDQ)
  • Those in Scotland's LDQ residing in the CHP

THE FOLLOWING TOOL SHOULD BE USED FOR TEST PURPOSES ONLY. The data and assumptions behind the tool have not been finalised, so the numerical outputs from the tool should not be used for any purpose at this stage.

The test version of the Scottish tool LAUNCH THE TOOL

Note: You may need to change your local excel macro settings
Background and technical information Background and Technical Document (254 KB)

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the Department of Health and London Public Health Observatory for allowing us to adapt the English Health Inequalities Intervention Tool and Dr Nusselder of Erasmus University for her help with the life expectancy calculations. We would also like to thank our project board. For further information or support please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NOTE ON INTERVENTION TOOLS

Previously, a second part of the tool, allowing you to model the impact of specific evidence-based interventions on all cause mortality and life expectancy, was presented on these pages. This 'intervention tool' is being superseded by ongoing work to develop a new suite of spreadsheet-based tools designed as a flexible, tailored resource to inform planning to reduce health inequalities in Scotland. The interventions for which spreadsheet tools are under development are:

  • NHS smoking cessation services
  • Alcohol Brief Interventions
  • Counterweight

These intervention tools will be published later in 2012.