A new report has found a worrying pattern of lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and worse health and wellbeing in the North of England.
Health Equity North: 2023 provides a snapshot of the health issues facing the North and adds to a growing body of evidence highlighting the urgent need to address regional health inequalities and improve productivity in the North.
Published today the report marks the launch of Health Equity North (HEN), a new virtual institute focused on place-based solutions to public health problems and health inequalities across the North of England.
The institute’s academic directors analysed the latest available data on life expectancy, infant mortality rates and self-assessed health, disability, and unpaid care, and the findings have exposed the worsening health divide between the North and the rest of England.
The North does significantly worse in all these areas, which also impacts productivity with above average rates of economic inactivity due to ill health or disability.
The key findings that people born in the North can expect to live at least one year less than the English average.
Across the North there is an average of 4 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to 3 deaths per 1,000 live births in London and the South East – this equated to an extra 144 infant deaths in the North in 2021
Of the 72 local authorities in the North of England, 52 (72%) have lower levels of very good or good health than the national average
The North has higher rates of bad/very bad health with 6.9% of people in the North East, 6.4% in North West, and 5.9% in Yorkshire and the Humber reporting bad/very bad health – compared to the English average of 5.3%
The North also has the highest rates of people who report that their day-to-day activities are limited a lot by a disabilities
The North has higher rates of economic inactivity due to ill health or disability: 5.7% in the North East, 5.3% in the North West, 4.7% in Yorkshire and the Humber – compared to the English average of 4.1%
The top five local authorities with the highest levels of economic inactivity due to long-term sickness or disability are in the North
More people in the North state that they provide unpaid care – in the North East 10.1%, the North West 9.7%, and Yorkshire and the Humber is 9.3%, compared to the English average of 8.9%
HEN brings together leading academics who have a unique understanding of their regional communities enabling the creation of research and policy solutions of local benefit. The institute will produce annual updates of health in the North to help and challenge local and national policy makers in their efforts to reduce regional inequalities.
The institute directors will be joined by leading health and policy experts from across the North of England at the HEN launch event in Leeds today where they will discuss the findings of the new report and HEN’s mission to tackle inequalities in the northern regions
Dr Luke Munford, HEN Academic Director, Health Economist from the University of Manchester, and co-author of the report, said:
“Health Equity North’s first health status report adds further weight to the growing list of evidence laying bare the ingrained health divide across the country. The northern regions have faced worse health outcomes for many years and with the added challenges posed in the wake of the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis, things look set to continue on a downward spiral. However, a joined up approach to tackle these inequalities at local and national level would help to rebalance regional health inequity.”
