South Yorkshire: Health report on life expectancy gap

Health bosses said people were suffering ill health much earlier in deprived areas than in wealthy areas

People in the most deprived areas of South Yorkshire are living shorter lives in poorer health, according to a report.

The gap between life expectancy in richer and poorer areas was over eight years for men and over seven for women.

South Yorkshire's NHS Integrated Care Board said tackling the difference was a major priority for it.

Chief executive officer Gavin Boyle said the gap was avoidable and preventable.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report states people are living "shorter lives than they should".

"People living in our most deprived areas have both shorter lives and are living those years in poorer health."

NHS figures suggest life expectancy in South Yorkshire is 77.3 years for men and 80.9 for women both lower than England as a whole.

The number of years lived in good health is 59.5 years for males and 60.2 years for females.

The gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas in South Yorkshire is 8.7 years for males and 7.6 years for females.

Men and women living in the most deprived parts of South Yorkshire will live on average 19 years more in poor health compared to those in the least deprived areas, the report said.

In his foreword to the report, Gavin Boyle, chief executive officer of the NHS board, said these differences as unfair and avoidable, adding "they are not inevitable and they are preventable".

The report said more people are suffering ill health through multiple conditions, as much as 15 years earlier in more deprived areas.

The report highlights the importance of preventative care to reduce people's risk of serious diseases

The biggest underlying causes of deaths were heart disease, Covid-19, dementia, lung cancer, stroke and lower respiratory disease.

"Very poor health and lower average age of death is often experienced by people who have become socially excluded as a result of multiple adverse events such as homelessness, addiction, racism, violence, crime and complex trauma."

It said preventative and proactive care and support can change the risk factors associated with many diseases for people.

"Especially where nearly one in six people smoke, more than a third don't have their blood pressure controlled to target and two thirds are overweight or obese."

Work is taking place to improve diagnosis rates for people with dementia, hypertension and cancer, the report said.

It suggested four key challenges to improving services - improving ambulance response times, eliminating 65-week waits for elective procedures, improving access to mental health support for children and young people, and dealing with increasing demand and pressure on primary care services.

The report will be discussed later at a meeting of Sheffield City Council's South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire joint health overview and scrutiny committee.