Health divide is set to widen

Even though Yorkshire already finds itself on the wrong side of a North-South health divide which has widened still further in recent times, there is little comfort to be gleaned from a settlement that will see this region have the lowest funding increase in the country.

Of course, there will always be winners and losers when bodies such as the NHS overhaul the complicated formulae which dictate spending levels on local health services, and it does appear that the Midlands and East of England will be among the beneficiaries.

Yet, while it is welcome that officials have placed a greater premium on the cost of providing care in rural and coastal areas – one reason why NHS services in North Yorkshire have been in a state of financial turmoil for many years – it appears that the issue of deprivation has been downgraded when it comes to the allocation of funds.

This is regrettable. For, as this newspaper revealed recently as part of its Big Debate on the North-South divide, a boy born today in Hull can expect to live to 76 – seven years less than a boy in East Dorset – while a girl born in the East Yorkshire city will live to 80, six years less than their counterpart in Dorset.

It is the same at the opposite end of the age spectrum where the life expectancy of senior citizens in cities like Hull compares unfavourably with more prosperous areas in the South, and in contradiction of the mission of the founding fathers of the 
NHS which was to dramatically improve the health of the poor.

Yet, if the National Health Service’s finances are to be stretched even further, both an inevitability and a necessity in an ageing society, it makes sense to prioritise policies, and schemes, which are intended to improve the wellbeing of people living in those areas, often socially deprived, and that have challenging health needs.

If people can become healthier as a consequence, it should ease the burden on the NHS and this should be the over-riding objective when financial decisions are being taken. Regrettably, it appears not to have been applied in this instance.

The children now paying the price

THERE has been widespread consternation, and understandably so, at the claim that children born in the 1960s and ’70s will be worse off than their parents and forebears unless they are in the fortunate position to be recipients of inherited wealth.

This is slightly surprising in that these are the people who would, and should, have been the primary beneficiaries of Margaret Thatcher’s economic and social revolution and, of course, there are many people whose personal fortune contradicts the thought-provoking conclusions of the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Yet, in many respects, the think-tank’s findings illustrate the extent to which the financial gulf between the haves and have-nots is being exacerbated by the cost of living concerns as well as the failure of successive governments to get to grips with issues pertaining to childcare, pensions and care of the elderly.

This is a consequence of a budgetary process which has penalised hardworking families on average incomes because the policy process is so skewered in favour of poor families or the tax arrangements of the wealthy.

It is a divide that is only likely to widen still further unless the Government can restore some much-needed credibility to the pensions system and persuade young people that it is in their best interests to save for their retirement.

The problem is persuading people to take the necessary steps to fund their latter years when politicians are still intent on penalising savers.

England are haunted by Lehmann

APART from the simple fact that England’s cricketers have lost the ability to bat, bowl or field, there is one other factor that explains why Australia regained the Ashes so emphatically – Darren Lehmann.

A legendary batsman who needs absolutely no introduction in these parts, and the only contemporary player to make the Yorkshire Post’s Greatest XI, it would be churlish not to acknowledge his role in reviving the fortunes of the old enemy and turning a floundering side into an irresistible force.

Much can be gleaned from Lehmann’s methods when Skipton-born James Whitaker becomes England’s chairman of selectors on January 1, not least when it comes to maximising the potential of exciting young Tykes like Joe Root, Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow so the Ashes – cricket’s greatest test – can be regained at the earliest opportunity in 2015.

More pertinently, Whitaker and cricket’s governing bodies around the world need to take stock and look at the spirit in which the past two Ashes series have been played. A game once graced by gentlemen, there is something very unappealing about a sport where the headlines are dominated by sledging, and umpiring grievances, rather than the action on the field of play – even if it has been Australia’s batsmen hitting England’s bowlers to all parts.