NHS boss urges pay cut to address health inequalities

Dr de Caestecker said new ideas were needed to tackle health inequalities

A senior NHS official has called on medical professionals to consider a pay cut to help create a fairer society.

Dr Linda de Caestecker, director of public health for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said fresh ideas were needed to tackle health inequalities.

Her second biennial report highlights the gap in health and life expectancy between the rich and the poor.

She is reported to have said she would be prepared to take a drop in her own salary.

Dr de Caestecker, who is understood to earn about £142,000 a year, said: "It is well known that the larger the difference in income between the affluent and more deprived people in a community, the higher the level of almost every modern social, environmental and health problem.

"Traditionally, public health experts have argued for levelling up of the circumstances of the poor to those of the rich to address these inequalities.

I want to inspire some different ways of thinking about the complex problems that face us Dr Linda de Caestecker

"The experience of the recession and our growing concerns about climate change show that this strategy is unsustainable. It would require consumption of more resources than are available globally."

She said it was important to plan now to ensure that economic recovery comes about in a way that will support equality and sustainability.

Her report, An Unequal Struggle for Health, did show improvements in the health of people living in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.

Deaths from coronary heart disease have reduced by almost 40% over the last 10 years.

Cancer survival is also improving, with five-year survival rates for breast cancer increasing from 64% for those diagnosed in 1980-84 to 84% in 2000-04.

Survival rates for cancers of the rectum and colon have also increased, as have the rate for childhood leukaemia.

However, the report highlighted the nine-year gap in male life expectancy between East Dunbartonshire (77.7 years) and North Glasgow (68.6 years).

Alcohol deaths

It also said obesity and the effects of alcohol consumption were increasing problems in the health board area.

The proportion of population either overweight or obese had increased by 12% in 8 years, with more than 60% of adults and 20% of pre-school children now affected.

NHSGGC has the worst four local authority areas in the UK for male deaths from alcohol and two of the four worst areas for women.

Dr de Caestecker set out a number of priorities for action that she wants to see taken forward by the public and private sector over the next two years.

They included introducing a proof of age card for all young people under 25 who wish to purchase alcohol, and developing a sustainable transport infrastructure which encourages active travel, including cycling and walking.

She also proposed the introduction of the positive parenting programme, Triple P, to help improve educational, social and health outcomes for children, and supporting the introduction of car-free days in cities and towns.

She said: "I want it to encourage all public and private sector organisations to step up to the challenge to support the most vulnerable in our population.

"And I want it to inspire some different ways of thinking about the complex problems that face us."