Despite recent dire statistics on life expectancies in the North East, improvements are already under way, cllrs have been told.
Cllrs gathered from seven North East local authorities on Monday afternoon for an update on the health disparities between the most and least affluent areas in the region. Previous reporting on the issue highlighted that Gateshead and Durham have the worst life expectancies for men and women respectively in the North East.
The figure from the report states that the average Gateshead man can expect to live 76.5 years, whereas women in Durham have an average life span of 80.8 years. The national average stands at 83.2 and 79.3 for women and men respectively.
However, medical professionals highlighted areas of improvement, including a reduction in high blood pressure problems. Dr Robin Hudson, medical director of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board: “I hope this encourages you, we aren’t starting from zero here. There is a lot of work taking place.”
Examples include potential work to reduce high blood pressure, including targeting the most disadvantaged and poorest performing GP practices and care networks. Heart checks in the most deprived areas and blood pressure kiosks in key locations are also proposed.
Better access to such services and their ability to help reduce health inequalities were dubbed “evidence based” by Dr Hudson.
In addition, obesity services have also been rolled out across the region, specifically the 20% most deprived communities. Work across the North East’s tobacco treatment has seen a fall in the percentage of mothers smoking at the time of delivery from 13.1% in 2021/22 to 7.8% in 2024/25, resulting in 1,425 fewer women smoking and 457 fewer labour complications.
Alcohol care teams throughout the health service have also seen a fall of those dependent on alcohol admitted to hospital by 42% and A&E attendances by 30% from 2021/22.
