New data shows life expectancy of Welsh men and women trail behind English average
Figures directly comparing the NHS in the four UK nations have been released today for the first time, and show the life expectancy of Welsh men and women are significantly behind the English average.
The data from IDS Scotland indicates a 1 year lag in the average life expectancy of Welsh men – who live to 78.4 years – compared to their English equivalents, with Welsh women trailing behind by 0.8 years in living to an average age of 82.3.
At 62.1 years, the healthy life expectancy of Welsh men and women is a combined average of 18 months behind that of English men and women, which sits at 63.75 years.
Commenting on the dataset, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Angela Burns AM, said:
“We welcome any data which increases the accountability of the Welsh Labour Government’s management of our health service.
“While there are a number of positives to take from these figures, it does demonstrate that the life expectancy for Welsh men is a year behind that of England, with women also trailing behind by just under that.
“The dataset must be viewed in the context of other reports which show that English hospitals are outperforming their Welsh NHS equivalents in a clear majority of indicators, and that Wales trails far behind England on a number of health measures from diabetes to lung cancer survival rates.
“There is neither room for complacency nor time for backslapping. There is an ongoing crisis in our NHS from poor recruitment to a lack of hospital beds, and the Welsh Labour Government must redouble its efforts to give staff and patients the health service they both need and deserve.”
Life expectancy data:
