A new report has exposed how the pandemic has seen 400,000 people leave work due to ill-health and Long Covid - and now leading regional figures have joined a new commission investigating how health and our economy interact as they seek to push the Government to respond to "burning health inequalities".
Led by the former chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies and surgeon Lord Ara Darzi, the cross-party commission set up by think-tank IPPR will also feature Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard from the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust, Newcastle University 's Professor Clare Bambra and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham.
The think-tank's report also highlights how people living in economically deprived areas - often in the North - can expect on average to be in ill-health by their late 50s. That's about five years earlier than the average, and 12 years before some of the healthiest areas of the UK like Wokingham in Berkshire. There healthy life expectancy is over 70.
Read more: Work longer, die younger: report shines light on life in the UK's 'left behind communities'
In our region, the figures show how healthy life expectancy is far lower than in the best-off areas of the country. In County Durham (where ill-health hits on average at age 58.8) Sunderland (56.1), South Tyneside (57.3) and Gateshead (57.,9) it's expected that on average you'll live less than 60 healthy years. The picture is not much better north of the Tyne in Newcastle (60.8), Northumberland (61.5) and North Tyneside (61.6).
The IPPR's research team argue that if you were able to level up health in each area to equal outcomes in the top 10% of places, the economy would get a huge boost. They say the value of the economy in each authority area could be boosted by between 1.5 and 3.2% - with Sunderland the place which would benefit the most.
Around the UK, the research suggests that Levelling Up could lead to 430,000 fewer children in poverty and 420,000 more adults in work. Speaking about the issue, Dr Pearson-Stuttard - who will be a vice-chair of the commission - said: "Health and poverty - If rates of child poverty and unemployment in the unhealthiest local authorities met rates in the healthiest local authorities, we would see 430,000 fewer children in poverty and 420,000 more adults in work.
Dr Pearson-Stuttard said: "“The Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated the inextricable link between health, our economic prosperity and inequalities. The pandemic must serve as a catalyst for us to re-position health as an opportunity to level up society and embed sustainable prosperity for future generations.
"I’m delighted to be vice-chair of this cross-party commission to help determine a blueprint that will not just help the NHS, but also improve people’s lives and reduce inequality." The medic, who is also chair-elect of the Royal Society for Public Health, leads Northumbria Healthcare's health inequalities programme board.
Also speaking about the research, Andy Burnham said: "Good health is at the heart of a just society. One of the fundamental beliefs of the British public is that everyone should have access to good health, irrespective of their means and location. But currently we see grave inequalities in health and opportunity across the country."
A government spokesperson said: "[Health Secretary Sajid Javid] has been clear that tackling health disparities is a priority and to do that we have to focus on the people and places who face the worst health outcomes.
"Our Health Disparities White Paper, due later this year, will set out bold action to reduce the gap in health outcomes between different places, so that people’s backgrounds do not dictate their prospects for a healthy life."
They added that NHS had committed £224m to support people with Long Covid. Last year the Government set up the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities - it has also pointed to how it increased the grant funding for local authority public health work to more than £3.4bn this year.
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