Life expectancy gap in Wolverhampton revealed

The stark contrast in living standards between two parts of the same city have been revealed by Wolverhampton's new director for public health who today pledged to try to change the way people think about their lifestyle and promote better living standards throughout council services.

Ros Jervis is in charge of an £18.77million-a-year budget to run public health from Wolverhampton City Council when primary care trusts are abolished at the end of March.

And she revealed that men in Bilston East are living to an average of 72.8 years while those in Tettenhall Wightwick could live to about 80.16 years.

For women, life expectancy is 82.76 in Tettenhall Wightwick compared with 78.78 in Bilston East.

Mrs Jervis said: "These areas are roughly seven miles apart, and the difference between them in life expectancy for men is seven years."

She said it was down to illnesses such as liver disease, heart trouble and strokes, much of which resulted from poor lifestyles.

Average life expectancy in Wolverhampton is 76.7 years for men and 80.8 years for women – two years below the national averages.

Public health duties are transferring from the former Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust from April 1.

Seven of the 30 posts in public health have gone but 23 staff have moved from Coniston House in Chapel Ash to the Civic Centre. Public health includes responsibility for pre-emptive measures designed to improve the overall health of the population.

GPs will be involved with commissioning hospitals and other health services to treat people.

Mrs Jervis said she wanted to use the council's other services to promote good health and help prevent people from needing to use the NHS for illnesses connected with lifestyle.

But she stopped short of announcing any particular projects or schemes, because she needs time to discuss ideas with different council departments.

"If we're going to improve things over the course of someone's life, it has to be targeted towards the younger age group," she said.

"We need to have a collective responsibility for public health. That might mean making health part of the advice we give with the debt service and trying to help someone who is struggling with money to still be able to make healthy choices. We're trying to get messages across. We need radical change at an individual level."