Early death fears for Arun

Figures released by the British Heart Foundation show that there were 313 heart attack deaths in Arun last year, compared with 218 in Worthing and just 204 in Chichester.

Littlehampton town councillor and GP, Dr James Walsh said: "In Arun, we have four electoral wards with the highest levels of deprivation in the country, two in Littlehampton, Ham and River, and two in Bognor.

"This has been shown, time and time again, to be linked to early death.

"The second factor is the higher proportion of over-65s and over-75s in Arun, and these figures are inevitably going to reflect that."

Work to improve

Catherine Scott, associate director of public health for West Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT), said that life expectancy in the county varied by up to 12 years between wards, with Ham and River, in Littlehampton, at the bottom of the pile.

"This is clearly unacceptable and we are working hard to improve health in the areas with the lowest rates.

"From 2005 to 2007 there were more deaths from heart attacks in Arun than other districts in West Sussex, reflecting the larger number of older people living in the area.

"Overall, however, mortality rates in Arun are lower than the national rate and similar to the West Sussex average."

Services

She added that the PCT was committed to improving services for people with heart disease, tackling the causes of it, and addressing the lifestyle factors that contribute to it.

"We are responsible for ensuring people across the county, no matter where they live, have the best opportunity to lead a healthy life, and tackling heart disease and improving services to treat it, are vital steps towards achieving that," she said.

Dr Walsh gave four tips on avoiding heart troubles, which were keeping weight down, taking regular exercise, keeping blood pressure monitored and not smoking.

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