Please note: This dashboard is a work in progress and currently under active development. The current version is v1.7, last updated on 8 July 2025.
The Risk of Digital Exclusion in Devon: A Public Health Perspective
Digital exclusion poses a significant risk to health equity, particularly in rural and coastal regions where access to services is already constrained by geographic and infrastructural barriers. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, NHS bodies are legally required to reduce inequalities in both access to and outcomes from healthcare. However, digital exclusion risks undermining this duty by shifting services and resources into the digital domain, which not all members of the population are equipped or able to access.
Devon faces particular challenges in this space. A 2015 report by ERS for the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership used composite measures—including indices of deprivation, broadband access, NEET rates, and older population proportions—to map areas most at risk of digital exclusion. Many of Devon’s communities ranked among the most vulnerable.
Given these challenges, local systems must ensure digital-first strategies do not inadvertently exacerbate health inequalities. A targeted, place-based approach to digital inclusion is essential to safeguarding equitable access to care in Devon.
Supporting Inclusive Service Design
The VCSE Digital Assembly ICB Group in Devon is a collaborative forum that brings together Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations, the Integrated Care Board (ICB), and other system partners to address digital exclusion. As part of this work, Public Health Intelligence is working in collaboration with the Assembly Group to develop an interactive dashboard report. The report visualises digital exclusion risk across multiple domains and geographies, and aims to identify populations most at risk of being left behind as services increasingly move online.
By highlighting nationally recognised risk factors, the dashboard enables an evidence-led approach to planning by empowering commissioners and system partners to target support effectively and safeguard equity in the shift to digital healthcare.
Digital Exclusion Devon Dashboard
We recommend viewing the dashboard in FULLSCREEN MODE.
If you have any questions, require further information, or require the Dashboard in an alternative format, please email publichealthintelligence-mailbox@devon.gov.uk or call 01392 383000 and ask for Public Health Intelligence.