Relocation, relocation is key to better health, says top doctor

Published on Friday 26 June 2009 23:11

SCOTLAND has an "appalling" health record and the creation of new industries and population redistribution are among the methods needed to tackle the problem, according to the leader of Scotland's doctors.

Dr Peter Terry, head of the British Medical Association Scotland, said he was disappointed by the lack of progress made in improving the health of the most deprived.

Speaking to The Scotsman ahead of the association's annual conference, which starts on Monday in Liverpool, Dr Terry said solving the nation's chronic ill health was beyond the powers of doctors alone.

He suggested radical steps, such as moving people away from the Central Belt, where the death of historic industries and unemployment has left large swathes of deprivation.

But Dr Terry admitted that the economic crisis was likely to hamper efforts to deal with health inequalities.

Dr Terry, who steps down from his BMA post in August after five years, said the NHS in Scotland had improved since devolution, and he praised the efforts made by the current and previous administrations.

But he said that the NHS alone could not solve the nation's health problems.

"What I am disappointed about is Scotland is still at the bottom of the league in terms of the health of the population – obesity, alcohol abuse, smoking and a lot of the diseases associated with that," he said.

"We still have an absolutely appalling health record.

"But whether or not the health service can address that I am not sure. We do our best but fundamentally these are the illnesses associated with poor education and deprivation and various other problems which I think will take longer to solve."

Dr Terry said Scotland was "blighted" by a few areas of deprivation which the country had failed to address.

He said the population of Scotland was not evenly spread and based on "the industrial revolution and industries that are no longer there".

"Maybe we do need to look at new industries and redistribute the population within Scotland … but that's going to take a long time," he said.

Dr Terry suggested one new industry might be renewable energy – but this would be based in the Highlands and remote and rural areas, not Glasgow. "Maybe to get those industries out there might be of some benefit, in much the same way as having the oil industry based in Aberdeen.

"Aberdeen is one of the wealthiest parts of Scotland. Grampian has one of the lowest standardised mortality rates. That clearly indicates that where you get new industry and new economies then you get migration, other populations come in, you get work, and people economically thriving."

He added: "If you were to repopulate Scotland you wouldn't necessarily put them across the Central Belt. You would move them more evenly."

Dr Terry said he would like to see improvements in ill health caused by deprivation within ten years, but that might not prove possible. "It's not easy for us to invest in other economic opportunities at the current time in the financial crisis. That has probably set us back a bit."

David Clark, chief executive of Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, said that redistributing the population had happened after the Second World War, with new industries and new towns such as East Kilbride.

But, he said, the effect was that health problems became even more concentrated in the more socially deprived areas which were left behind.

"Over the last few years the Keep Well Project has concentrated on trying to persuade the most difficult to reach groups in areas such as these to seek early treatment for conditions like heart disease and to improve their lifestyle," Mr Clark said.

"Evidence is that projects like this are beginning to have an effect and we should give these initiatives a chance to succeed."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The link between poverty and ill health is well known and the Scottish Government is working hard to reduce health inequalities.

"On a wider level, the government is totally committed to helping Scotland weather the economic storm, bringing forward capital and other investment to support jobs during the recession and provide a firm footing for recovery."