The divergence in the quality of life among some Croydon residents is so great that a woman from Fieldway in New Addington can expect to live 14 years less than her counterpart with a home in the same borough and barely three miles away in Sanderstead.
That is according to NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group, in their annual report on the state of health and health services in the borough.
While Matthew Kershaw, the chief executive of the Croydon NHS Trust, used yesterday’s Croydon Healthwatch annual meeting occasion to provide reassurance about the readiness of Mayday Hospital in the face of a “second wave” of coronavirus, the CCG annual report provides a broader overview, intended to anticipate trends and demands on the health services in coming years.
According to Greater London Authority projections, by 2031, the population of Croydon is expected to rise to 444,573, up from 2019 estimate of 396,548, making Croydon’s one of the fastest-growing populations in the whole of the capital. Croydon’s child population is reckoned to be the largest in London.
Of the existing Croydon populace, 51.7 per cent are from a BAME background.
According to the CCG report, two-thirds of Croydon’s adult population is either overweight or obese.
The lack of mental health provision is an increasing issue, with an estimate that 76 per cent of people who suffer from depression are undiagnosed.
Among other key health facts about Croydon presented in the CCG report…
- Life expectancy for both men and women in Croydon is higher than the England average. However, life expectancy is 7.9 years lower for men and 5.4 years lower for women in the most deprived parts of Croydon than in the least deprived areas. These gaps are larger for healthy life expectancy
- There is significant variation in deprivation between wards within the borough. In New Addington North (the ward that used to be called Fieldway), for instance, 86.7 per cent of the population are among the 20 per cent most deprived in England.
- In Sanderstead, none of the population isy among the 20 per cent most deprived.
- Croydon Council estimates that more than 2,500 families in the borough live in poverty.
- In 2017, an estimated 12 per cent of Croydon adults smoked, with 1,068 deaths in the borough that year attributed to the effects of smoking.
- More than 1 in 5 (21.9 per cent) of children aged four to five years are overweight or obese, and more than 1 in 3 (37.9 per cent) children aged 10 to 11 are overweight or obese.
- There were 6,512 hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions in 2017-2018.
- Breast and cervical cancer screening rates in Croydon are both lower than the national average, but above the London average.
To read the Croydon CCG 2019-2020 report in full, click here.
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