Welcome to the Liverpool City-Region Health is Wealth Commission website.

The Commission was established to examine the growing gap between the City-region’s booming economic performance and its worsening public health status; to look at why this might be happening and to make recommendations as to what might be done to help improve the situation.

The Commission was set four key questions:

• What more can be done to achieve measurably greater aspiration and commitment to improving health and wellbeing amongst local people, communities and businesses?
  
  
• How can the region reduce the current health inequalities that exist across the region and better exploit the diverse assets and talents that lie underused as a result?
  
  
• How can the region strengthen its presence as an internationally renowned centre for health science and better exploit those assets for the benefit of local people?
  
  
• What more can be done to maximise the economic benefit of the health services sector to the region through, for example, procurement, recruitment and enlightened corporate social responsibility?

Commissioners were drawn from diverse professional backgrounds and bring with them a wide-range of expertise, specialisms and interests. Chaired by Sue Woodward OBE, the Commission included high-profile figures from the fields of education, politics, public services, academia and from the health sector itself.

The Commission was established in March 2007. Over 18 months of investigation, Commissioners considered written and oral evidence from key witnesses across a range of issues. It supported a number of focussed research pieces and undertook a full programme of public consultation, which was used to inform and refine its final recommendations.

The Commission’s findings were published in September 2008, as part of Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture programme.