'Coronavirus has hurt the poor most' says Oxfordshire public health director

Last summer when I joined Oxfordshire County Council as public health director, I could never have imagined that I’d be dealing with the impacts of a global health emergency less than a year later.

As we all know, Covid-19 has swept across the world and led to dramatic changes in our lifestyles, routines and our whole way of thinking about our health and wellbeing.

So much has changed. Yet, locally, so much remains the same.

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Oxfordshire may be one of the most affluent counties in the UK, but it includes ten of the most deprived wards in the whole of England.

And the virus has served to magnify the stark health inequalities that exist in the county.

One of my main tasks as public health director is to write an annual report describing the state of play as regards public health in our county.

My 2019/20 report was written long before Covid-19 had started to have an impact in the world.

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However, the virus has not made these concerns go away – quite the opposite in fact. It has shone a cruel spotlight on the issues that I highlight and made them even more urgent.

Economic inequality has a significant impact on the health, wellbeing and life expectancy of the people who live in the most deprived areas of Oxfordshire.

The long-term unemployment rate in the most deprived wards is 4.4 compared with a national average of 3.6.

Knights Road in the Leys, part of Northfield Brook ward which is regularly ranked as one of Oxfordshire’s most deprived areas.

Fuel poverty is experienced by 18.6 percent of households compared with 8.7 per cent nationally.

And perhaps most shockingly of all, there is a potential 15-year life expectancy gap between people living in the most affluent parts of Oxfordshire and those in the least affluent wards.

There can be no question that the virus has replicated these existing health inequalities, disproportionately affecting our most vulnerable communities.

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As the recent Public Health England report has shown, the risk of exposure to the virus and of suffering more severe outcomes is higher for those living in more deprived areas.

Covid-19 has dramatically illustrated the devastating impact of health inequalities.

These are national issues, but there is important work we can do locally to improve the situation here in the county.

We must act now to ensure that everyone in Oxfordshire has the opportunity to live a long and healthy life.

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Across Oxfordshire, we have long been shaping our environment so that homes are healthier, green spaces can be easily accessed, and walking and cycling are supported and encouraged.

Councils and their partners have been working in partnership with local residents and communities to support people in adopting healthier lifestyles.

We’ve made good progress, but we now need to redouble our efforts. I hope my Annual Public Health Report will act as a catalyst for us all to come together across Oxfordshire as organisations and individuals so that we can put ourselves collectively in a more resilient position.

Let’s harness the amazing community response we’ve seen to Covid-19 across Oxfordshire and maintain the momentum as we seek to build a brighter future for the county.

Please join me on this journey to create a healthy and prosperous Oxfordshire for everyone.