Last updated 19:44, Thursday, 17 April 2008

PLEDGES have been made to improve the health of residents living on Workington’s estates at a conference in the town.

Community group leaders, agencies and health officials met on Wednesday to discuss a report which confirms that half the residents in Moorclose and Moss Bay had visited their GP to seek help for their poor health.

The study, by academics at Durham University, revealed that as many as half of the residents living in parts of Workington suffer some kind of long-term life-restricting illness.

The conference, which was held at Salterbeck’s Oval Centre looked at issues such as housing, promoting healthy lifestyles, tackling long-term unemployment, improving access to dentists and communication between GPs and job centres.

During the meeting all members made promises and organisers hope to review them at a later date to see what action has been taken.

Professor John Ashton, Cumbria’s director of public health, said: “I will work closely with neighbourhood forums to secure progress and will commit time to support the work.”

He said during the meeting: “We need to do different things and do them differently. That is the only way we will make an impact. If you go back 100 years there wasn’t a health service, there were communities. We need expertise not experts.”

Councillor Barbara Cannon, chairwoman of the Neighbourhood Management Partnership Board said there had been plenty of good work done in the community like working with the Credit Unions to tackle debt, appointing 10 Police Community Support Officers in South Workington to tackle crime, working with Connexions to educate young people about sexual health, and the new recent bylaws forbidding on-street drinking in South Workington.

But she added: “The time has come for all of us to find ways to get rid of the scourge of poverty, worklessness, poor health and lack of aspiration on our doorstep.

“More than anything today I ask you to work with the people of these two communities as they are the experts in what will work and what will not.”

Mark Fryer, of South Workington Neighbourhood Management, said: “We have been working very hard with John Ashton for the past 12 to 18 months. There is recognition that health is not just the role of the PCT.

“Every body needs a piece of the action. It’s taken 30 years to get here. We are not going to turn it around in a week.

“We have got issues that are part of the fabric of the way people live their lives. We want to stop talking about it and take action.”

Copeland MP Jamie Reed said he will be using the findings of the Health Impact Assessment report in Parliament.

He said: “In West Cumbria the life expectancy is lower than in east Cumbria. We need to carefully look at the action for West Cumbria.

“We need to ask the county council and Primary Care Trust how they will prioritise their resources. We need to destroy these inequalities.

“We are trying to achieve a new hospital, academy and roads etc as economic regeneration. It will lead to the removal of the inequalities.

“There needs to be more members of the public involved in this. A huge part depends on people taking control of their lives.

“I have been asking parliamentary questions about the standards of health in Cumbria.

“I will use the Health Impact Assessment report heavily in parliament to lobby the Government for extra resources for the area and lobby the Primary Care Trust to target West Cumbria. We need justice for the needy areas.”

Organisers will publish a conference report with the results of the meeting and the next steps to improve health in the communities.