Introducing Henry Sloman – our first guest writer

At the TU, we are committed to continuous learning. We are an organisation that aims to listen, reflect, and act to address the root causes of health inequalities. We know that creating meaningful change starts with elevating voices that have lived, seen, and worked through the realities of unequal systems.

We are delighted to welcome Henry Sloman as our first guest writer. As a nurse and experienced EDI educator, Henry brings deep insight into the intersection of identity, access, and outcomes, with strong messaging about work still required to create a health system that truly serves all communities.

Working in the NHS and being an NHS patient means seeing health inequalities play out in the day to day not just the data. These are not distant statistics. These are real people sitting in front of us, families waiting anxiously in clinics, and communities whose needs have too often been overlooked being underserved repeatedly. Health inequalities shape outcomes every day, and they do so most significantly for those whose identities or circumstances already leave them marginalised.

Cancer is a prominent example. In the UK, Black men are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white men, and they are also more likely to die from it. These stats reflect delays in diagnosis, barriers in awareness, and a lack of cultural competencies in healthcare that leaves people at real risk.

For LGBTQIA+  patients the picture is equally concerning. Data on these communities is often not monitored and often not even collected. This means vital details that should guide care are missed and even erased. Many trans and queer patients report feeling invisible within services, and many report experiencing discrimination when accessing services.

The cost of silence is poorer health outcomes and a lack of trust in the system.

Poverty also makes a profound difference. People living in the most deprived parts of the country are sixty per cent more likely to die from cancer than those in the wealthiest areas. That gap translates into tens of thousands of avoidable deaths each year. We can no longer ignore health inequalities or make assumptions of who feels represented when they may not even be consulted or in the room.

The NHS Ten Year Health Plan sets out an ambition to address these kinds of inequalities by focusing more on prevention, strengthening community care, and making services more accessible. But ambition alone is not enough. None of these ambitions or NHS values can truly be upheld if inequality is left unchallenged.

What matters is making equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) the lens through which every decision is made. This means using the data we have to shape services, seeking out data we don’t have, asking questions that make people feel seen and respected. Asking the question who isn’t in the room and how can we represent them? We must hold ourselves accountable for upholding EDI values while also developing reciprocal relationships with underserved communities. If we know a marginalised group faces higher risks, we must adapt, communicate, and provide the space to meet the needs of this group. If we know patients feel invisible, we must change how we speak, ask, and listen. And if we know outcomes differ along lines of race, sexuality, or deprivation, then leadership must treat those gaps as urgent problems to solve, not just statistics.

Health inequalities are not accidents. They are the product of systems and choices, which means they can also be changed by systems and choices. Being part of the NHS workforce we are in a unique position to make that change. Every time we see a patient, every time we shape a service, we can decide to challenge inequalities and listen to unheard voices. If EDI is placed at the centre of what we do, we will not only improve outcomes but also restore trust in the NHS as a service for everyone. Reducing health inequalities is the responsibility of us all.