North West Bids to Tackle North-South Health Divide

Date published: 12/10/2006

Ruth Hussey, regional director for public health, has welcomed the publication of regional health profiles, she said:  "In recent years we have made some real progress in tackling some of the public health issues and have improved the life-expectancy of people who live in the North-West.  Unfortunately this hasn’t been happening fast enough and the gap between the North and South is still there."

Life expectancy for men and women in the North-West has got better, thanks to improvements in treatment for cancer and heart disease and a decrease in the number of people who smoke.

There are however other health problems that are growing and need to be tackled; the North-West has the highest rate of alcohol related hospital stays in the country and the highest number of people receiving treatment for drug misuse.  And across the country, changing eating habits and a lack of physical activity mean that more people are overweight and obesity in adults and children is growing.

Ms Hussey added: "It is important that the NHS works with partner organisations, such as local government, education and community organisations to tackle this problem.  We have already proposed a north west regional health plan, which will see all groups working together to make sure that as a region we begin to make real progress.  We want to make sure that in the future, our area is known for having some of the best health in the country."

Mike Farrar, Chief Executive of NHS North-West said: "We welcome the introduction of the annual health check.  We believe that these standards are all about helping hospitals and Primary Care Trusts to continuously assess their own performance and to 'raise the bar' in terms of the quality of the services they are providing. 

"We feel that our organisations have always set themselves high standards and this has been reflected in their self-assessments, which we feel have been tough but fair.

"The majority of organisations in the North-West have been assessed as fair or above for the two main areas of use of resources and quality of services.  And we know that the margins between being assessed as 'fair' or 'good' are very narrow.

"We will be looking to all organisations to put in place plans to ensure that they continue to improve the quality of services they provide and how they use their resources – this must be an on-going process." 

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in Greater Manchester are working with other local stakeholders on a range of public health priorities that will have a direct impact on life expectancy and reduce health inequalities.  These include consistent guidance on implementation of cardiac registers in primary care, a focus on reducing smoking prevalence and a range of initiatives to support early presentation to primary care in relation to cancer.  This work is being brought together at a conference on Thursday 7 December, to which key partners have been invited to create a real collective commitment to support improved population health in Greater Manchester.  Further work is being undertaken on alcohol, obesity and suicide prevention, as well as considering how the NHS as an employer and purchaser of services can contribute to improving the economic prosperity of the region.

For more information, contact Will Blandamer, Director of Health Improvement, Association of Greater Manchester PCTs.  Tel 01942 481737