Monitoring and evaluating change
In 2020, an independent evaluation reported that Coventry had demonstrated a commitment to making fairer decisions to improve the health of residents in the city (3). There were positive signs of progress. Proportionate universalism and resource allocation were being advocated for more widely, and Coventry was doing well compared to similar places elsewhere in the UK.
The Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) is a measure that brings together different types of data about income, employment, education, health, housing, living environment, and crime in different geographical areas. This means that levels of deprivation can be compared between areas. As a Marmot city between 2015 and 2019, Coventry saw a rank improvement on the IMD relative to other areas in the West Midlands region. Including all areas nationally, Coventry raised 22 places in the rankings, whilst 10 of 11 other West Midlands areas lowered in the rankings. This positive change suggested that Coventry was moving in the right direction as a Marmot city. However, there was still necessary work to do to reduce deprivation and inequality. In addition, the 2020 evaluation of Coventry as a Marmot city highlighted examples of some inequalities getting worse due to local, national, and global challenges. Since 2020, there have been further challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, Coventry’s Marmot Partnership produced the Marmot Monitoring Tool to describe the work being done on the eight Marmot Principles. The tool lists areas of work related to each Principle, plus the delivery partners and available measures and indicators (4). Data and information through the Marmot Monitoring Tool is fed back to partners and the Coventry Health and Wellbeing Board to help drive change. Alongside these measures and indicators, gathering reflections from Marmot Partners helps to understand the full story and the direction of change in the city. This report is not an evaluation, though it describes reflections and a stocktake from Marmot Partners on the journey so far, and the next steps into the future.