Tackling Health Inequalities: Our Core20PLUS5 Commitment

At Shrewsbury Primary Care Network, we are committed to reducing healthcare inequalities and delivering fair and equitable care to all our patients. That’s why we embed the Core20PLUS5 approach across everything we do.

What is Core20PLUS5?

Core20PLUS5 is a national NHS England framework designed to help reduce health inequalities at both a system and local level. It identifies:

• Core20: The most deprived 20% of the national population, based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).
• PLUS: Population groups at risk of poorer health outcomes, identified locally – such as ethnic minority communities, people with learning disabilities or autism, those experiencing homelessness, and others facing social exclusion.
• Five clinical priorities:
  1. Maternity – Supporting continuity of care for women from minority ethnic backgrounds and deprived areas.
  2. Severe Mental Illness (SMI) – Ensuring physical health checks are carried out annually.
  3. Chronic Respiratory Disease – Boosting vaccine uptake and reducing hospital admissions.
  4. Early Cancer Diagnosis – Increasing early-stage cancer detection.
  5. Hypertension & Lipid Management – Improving detection and treatment to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

How Shrewsbury PCN is Making a Difference

We are proud to be putting the Core20PLUS5 framework into practice every day. Each of our teams is actively working to address health inequalities in their area of care.

Examples of our work include:

• Partnerships with Shrewsbury’s Food Banks, helping to support those most in need
• Supporting patients to take up Cancer Screening opportunities
• Organising Patient Education Sessions to empower communities with better health knowledge