By Report which aims to tackle health inequalities in North East Lincolnshire approved
A report which aims to combat the health inequalities of the residents of North East Lincolnshire was approved at a council meeting last night.
The report reads: “Since a large proportion of North East Lincolnshire is counted among the most deprived 10% of England, health inequalities are a major issue for our area and are only likely to have been exacerbated by Covid-19.
“On average, those living in the most deprived areas of North East Lincolnshire can expect to live shorter lives than those living in the least deprived areas.
“They are also more likely to spend a greater proportion of their lives living in poor physical health, as well as to suffer from poor mental health and wellbeing.”
The report’s statistics show the East Marsh is in the 0-1% of the most deprived areas in the country.
It also stated that North East Lincolnshire has the 11th highest proportion of children living in income deprived households, at 27.4% of the population.
Life expectancy in the area is also much lower than the England benchmark, at 82.1 years old for women and 77.8 years old for men.
Aims of the report include raising the profile of domestic abuse in healthcare settings, securing accommodation for rough sleepers, supporting local schools to prioritise healthy relationships, increasing access to nutritious food in deprived areas, ensuring residents have access to support for managing their debt and improving living conditions in general.
Mark Webb, Chair of the North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Health inequalities have been such a thing for us for so long. It’s incumbent on all of us to make sure that the much reported increase in prosperity for this area is linked to some of our most deprived and vulnerable people to make sure the benefit is spread across the borough.”
Stephen Pintus, Director of Health and Wellbeing for North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “I think we are certainly tackling some of the key underlying issues.
“The emergent development opportunities in the economy in terms of the prosperity that will generate is huge. It’s difficult not to underplay it. I think the challenge is how we connect that to the local communities, to local people that will benefit most if they could be part of that economy.
“If we do it, it will be brilliant and we’ll be levelling up within our communities. If we don’t, we risk the danger of the inequalities widening further.
“I think the challenge over the coming decade is to try and get as much of the benefit into the community’s most effected by these inequalities.”
The report can be viewed here.
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