North-South health divide to widen as region hit hardest over toll from virus crisis, northern health chiefs warn

New research by the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA) shows deprived urban areas in northern England are being hit with higher rates of Covid-19 deaths, higher death rates from all causes and bigger increases in unemployment.

The research, seen by The Yorkshire Post, is a collaboration with the NIHR Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs) in the North East and North Cumbria and Greater Manchester.

Across Yorkshire, results revealed, Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Sheffield and Rotherham are all above the English average in all three areas.

Wakefield recorded the highest covid mortality rate with 42.1 deaths per 100,000, the second highest was in Rotherham (37.7 per 100,000), followed by Bradford (34.8 per 100,000).

While Greater Manchester was hit with a 51.4 death rate with Salford worse affected in the region (92.6), compared with a 26.8 death rate in the South East.

In a challenge to Boris Johnson's levelling-up agenda, the senior NHS and university leaders argue that this impact of the virus and lack of action will drive health inequalities which are holding back the northern economy and help widen the North-South health divide for future generations.

Hannah Davies, the Health Inequalities lead for the NHSA, said: "The impact of the disease on areas already suffering from greater health inequalities will leave a long, devastating impact across the North of England, and particularly in urban areas if action is not taken by government now.

"As the Government looks to its levelling up agenda it must pay close attention to where it can support the health and wealth of the region and support local authorities, the NHS, and metro mayors to make decisions based on the needs of their population."

The team used data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to map figures for the last six weeks on Covid-19 deaths, deaths from all causes, and unemployment figures, to build up a picture of how the virus is affecting different parts of England.

They then mapped across the main train lines in England to see how different urban and rural centres performed compared to the national average.

Main centres in the North including Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Durham are also above the average in all three areas whereas Slough is the only place outside of the North to be red in all areas.

Professor Clare Bambra, from Newcastle University, said the maps show the stark regional inequalities in the impacts of the pandemic across the country.

She said: "The Northern hotspots should be prioritised as Covid testing roles out and new NHS investment and public health investment should target those areas most effected".

Professor Bambra added, to avoid a parallel mental health pandemic, economic and social measures to ‘level’ up the regions need to be implemented "as soon as possible."

Unemployment rates were added into the map as these have a proven link to mental health and suicide and are a strong indicator of future health inequalities.

Across the Yorkshire and Humber region the unemployment rate rose from 3.5 per cent to 5.7 percent, compared to a rise from 2.2 per cent to 3.9 per cent in the South East.

Both North and South Yorkshire saw a 2.2 per cent rise in unemployment, followed by West Yorkshire with 2.1 per cent while East Riding of Yorkshire saw a 2.0 increase. Scarborough has been worse hit with a 3.1 per cent rise in unemployment while Hull had the second highest increase with 2.8 per cent, followed by Doncaster with a 2.6 per cent difference.

Elsewhere the unemployment rate rose from 4.2 per cent to 6.7 per cent in Greater Manchester.

Dr Luke Munford, from the University of Manchester, said the results show that Covid-19 is impacting parts of the country in different ways, with a North-South divide emerging.

He said the unemployment data, particularly, is a cause for concern as pre-Covid-19 unemployment rates in the North were already above the English average, and they are increasing much faster than they are in the south.

Dr Munford said: "Given the well-known link between unemployment rates and mental health and suicides, these data would suggest that action needs to be taken in the North."

Earlier this year the NHSA, which brings together research intensive universities and NHS teaching trusts, revealed that poor health accounts for one third of the productivity gap between the North and the rest of the UK, at a cost of £13.2bn a year.________________________________

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