The Department of Health launched the new 2010 local authority health profiles last week which showed worrying results for Greenwich. The statistics are collected annually by the Association of Public Health Observatories and are designed to help local people understand what is happening in their area in regards to the services provided by the local council and health services. The statistics also allow residents to compare Greenwich’s performance against England as a whole, and against other London authorities. Out of 32 indicators, Greenwich was doing significantly worse than the English average on 15 key areas, and was often behind the London average too, with the data finding that ‘the health of the people in Greenwich is generally poor.’:

• Life expectancy for men is worse than the England average, as the rates of deaths from smoking and early deaths from heart disease and stroke.
• The proportion of children in reception year who are classified as obese is worse than the England average.
• Levels of children living in poverty was worse than the England average
• The borough was considered one of the worst in the country for levels of violent crime and was also worse than the London average.
• The report also confirmed that the teenage pregnancy rate in the borough is also a serious problem.

Your local Conservative councillors have been raising these problems in council meetings, questioning the council’s strategies in tackling these serious problems and putting forward alternatives, which we believe would have a greater impact, such as 24 hour policing teams in our town centres, paid for by the abolition of Greenwich Time – a policy which Labour opposed.

Residents can access further information at: www.healthprofiles.info