The Leeds Health and Care Academy is launching its new Health Equity Development Programme, Fairer, Healthier Leeds, offering free training across the health and social care workforce in Leeds from March 2026.
The programme aims to create a confident, skilled and empowered workforce that delivers care which is fair for all. It focuses on proactively addressing health inequalities by embedding equitable, inclusive and accessible practice into everyday care.
Designed in alignment with the Best City Ambition, the Leeds Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the Leeds Health Equity Strategy, Marmot principles and Core20Plus5, the programme supports the city’s shared priorities for tackling inequalities and improving population health.
Three levels of development
The programme offers three levels to support action on health inequalities at every tier of the workforce:
Level 1 – Essential Knowledge eLearning
Foundational learning to build understanding of health inequalities and their impact.
Level 2 – Reducing Inequalities in Public-Facing Roles
Practical tools and approaches for staff working directly with people and communities.
Level 3 – Service Improvement for Leaders and Managers
Supporting leaders to embed equity into service design, delivery and improvement.
Recognising that attending in-person development opportunities is not always possible, a 90-minute learning burst has also been developed based on the Level 2 programme. This can be delivered directly to teams to support flexible access.
Programme focus and impact
The programme builds the skills, knowledge and confidence of health and care staff, including nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, care workers and managers, to reduce inequalities and improve access to services.
It is coordinated by the Leeds Health and Care Academy, with leadership from Dr Anna Ray, Consultant in Public Health. The Academy supports co-design, city-wide rollout, evaluation and reporting.
By strengthening workforce capability, the programme aims to ensure services across Leeds are more inclusive and better targeted for those most at risk, contributing to the ambitions set out in the Healthy Leeds Plan.
Further information and updates are available on the Leeds Health and Care Academy website.
