Publish date: 22 July 2024
Trust Liaison psychiatry consultant Dr Amrit Sachar has collaborated on a Royal College of Psychiatrists podcast on the subject of ‘Equity versus Equality’.
In the podcast, Amrit is joined by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, a world-renowned epidemiologist and global health leader, and interviewed by Royal College of Psychiatrists Podcast Editor Dr Nadia Imran.
The podcast delves into the differences between Equity versus Equality, and what it means in public health and public mental health. The guests also discuss the how we can move towards equity at the level of teams, regions, nations as well as what individual clinicians can do.
Amrit who is the RCPsych’s Joint Presidential Lead for Equity and Equality, says:
“Equity is needs to be understood as being different from equality. Equality is about allocating the same resources and support, regardless of need. Equity, however is about allocating resource and support according to need, in order to help overcome structural and institutional barriers.
“Social determinants of health and healthcare inequity are significant causes of differential outcomes for our patients and in particular we know that people with severe mental illness and personality disorder die 15-20 years before their peers because of these factors."
Dr Nicky Goater, deputy medical director , who used this as her CPD, said " Honestly it was excellent. I’ve taken away a couple of quite specific things I’ll think about doing related to equity."
The podcast is available, free on the RCPsych website, visit to download.