Experts Unite to Tackle Health Justice Partnership Funding Challenges

Health Justice Partnerships (HJPs) bring together healthcare providers and welfare rights advice services to offer support on social welfare legal issues—such as benefits, debt, housing, and employment—within healthcare settings. By addressing the legal and social problems that often contribute to poor health, these partnerships play a vital role in reducing health inequalities.

But the key message from a high-level roundtable discussion held at UCL's Faculty of Laws last week was that despite delivering proven results for individuals – as well as bringing considerable savings to the public purse- securing stable funding remains a significant hurdle.

The event brought together experts from across sectors to address how these partnerships can move from short-term projects to core services within our health system.

"The case has been made for health justice partnerships - their value is self-evident," said Matthew Smerdon, Chief Executive of The Legal Education Foundation. "The priority now needs to shift towards prevention rather than dealing with crises."

Professor Hazel Genn, Director of UCL Centre for Access to Justice, highlighted how HJPs provide a multi-disciplinary solution to complex challenges: "We know the problems - we need to focus on collaborative interventions. Health Justice Partnerships do this by embedding legal support into healthcare, leading to better outcomes for both justice and health."

The roundtable revealed encouraging developments, including the Ministry of Justice's commitment to early resolution of legal problems. Cathryn Hannah, Deputy Director for Legal Support and Dispute Resolution, shared that the MoJ has commissioned an evaluation of HJPs across England and is co-designing a strategy for future investment.

Dr. Sarah Raistrick presented impressive results from Coventry's HJP, which has improved socio-economic circumstances for patients while reducing GP appointments. The partnership was successfully funded by positioning it as a direct response to health inequalities within the Integrated Care Board's priorities.

Participants identified several pathways to more sustainable funding, including:

• Aligning HJPs with the NHS's upcoming focus on 'neighbourhood health' in its 10-year plan
• Exploring the potential of NHS charities as funders who understand the links between deprivation and poor health
• Developing tailored evidence and economic return-on-investment data specifically for health commissioners
• Exploring the potential of pooled funding to scale up HJPs

The discussion demonstrated strong cross-sector commitment to turning these promising partnerships into standard practice. As Sarah Beardon of UCL noted, the challenge now is moving beyond "motivated individuals advocating for projects" to systems that take ownership and responsibility for this collaborative approach.

The roundtable was convened as part of the National Strategy for Health Justice Partnership, funded by The Legal Education Foundation. If you’re a funder and would like to find out more about HJPs, please contact health-justice@ucl.ac.uk.