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New National Health Index Finds Blackpool The Unhealthiest Place To Live In England

Blackpool has been named the unhealthiest place to live in England, according to the first official National Health Index, which was reported upon in yesterday’s ‘Sunday Times’ (28th February, 2021).  Significantly, the regional inequalities of the North/South divide are unambiguously revealed in the composite scores which underpin each areas position in the Index listing.

Collected by the Office for National Statistics and financial services company Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP), the composite scores were found by combining different health factors, such as alcohol misuse, adult obesity, dementia and cancer, inevery area. This National Health Index comes after Government Ministers asked LCP statisticians to assess the health of the nation in a bid to measure the effects of Government policy on health. In the tables, the lower the score – the unhealthier the place to live.

Composite Scores showing England’s unhealthiest places

  • Blackpool – 86
  • Kingston upon Hull – 91
  • Stoke-on-Trent – 91
  • Middlesbrough – 92
  • Hartlepool – 92
  • Knowsley – 93
  • Doncaster – 94
  • Nottingham – 94
  • St Helens – 94
  • Salford – 94

Composite Scores For England’s healthiest places

  • Wokingham – 110
  • Richmond upon Thames – 108
  • Windsor and Maidenhead – 107
  • West Berkshire – 106
  • Surrey – 106
  • Bracknell Forrest – 105
  • Buckinghamshire – 105
  • Rutland – 105
  • Kingston upon Thames – 105
  • Hampshire – 105

Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, head of health analytics at LCP, said in The Sunday Times, ‘The numbers reveal clear and substantial differences across England and should be a wake-up call to the Government to deliver on its manifesto pledge to level up regional inequalities.  While there is some encouragement to be had from slight improvements in measures related to wellbeing and mortality, these have been cancelled out by worsening mental and physical health morbidity.  These may have deteriorated further as a result of Covid-19.’

Alongside his role at LCP, Dr Pearson-Studdard is also Public Health Doctor and Epidemiologist at Imperial College London.  He is a specialist in studying trends in chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, specifically looking at how these conditions increase the risk of other disorders and their impact upon patients, populations and health systems.

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