The Scotsman

Glasgow has highest UK mortality rate

● ONS figures show city records 1,389 deaths per 100,000 people

- By KEVAN CHRISTIE Health Correspond­ent

Glasgow has topped the list of places with the highest mortality rate in the UK, new data has revealed.

The city recorded 1,389.1 deaths per 100,000 people last year – this was against a UK average of 982.5.

The Scottish council areas of West Dunbartons­hire and North Lanarkshir­e also ranked high up the list, with 1,300.9 and 1,300.6 deaths per 100,000 respective­ly.

The data, compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), showed that Blackpool had the highest mortality rate of any council area in England, with 1,287.8 deaths per 100,000, this was closely followed by Middlesbro­ugh, with 1,285.4.

Apart from the City of London, the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea had the lowest mortality rate of

0 Glasgow tops the list for mortality with West Dunbartons­hire and North Lanarkshir­e also ranked high any area of the UK, with just 667.4 deaths per 100,000.

In Wales, Blaenau Gwent had the highest mortality rate of any area, with 1,234.8 deaths per 100,000 people, and Monmouthsh­ire had the lowest, with 872.6.

Belfast also recorded the highest mortality rate for Northern Ireland, with 1,139.3 deaths per 100,000, while Causeway Coast and Glens had the lowest, with 918.4.

The figures, which were taken from registered deaths in the UK in 2016, showed that Scotland recorded the most deaths of any UK nation, with an average 1,136.4 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Wales (1,045.7) and Northern Ireland (1,015.9).

England recorded the lowest number of deaths on average, with 959.8 deaths per 100,000 people . The “substantia­l variation in mortality rates between different local areas reflects underlying difference­s in factors such as income deprivatio­n, socio-economic position and health behaviour,” a spokespers­on for the ONS said.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board said: “Life expectancy is strongly associated with dep- rivation and Greater Glasgow and Clyde has high levels of deprivatio­n.

“The area served by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has seen improvemen­ts in the life expectancy of its population over recent years.

“However we are aware that some of our population living in the most deprived areas are not experienci­ng an increase in life expectancy as quickly as people living in well-off areas.

“As an NHS board we are working with our local authority partners to reduce poverty, for example through increasing employment, and to reduce the effects of poverty through a range of services and initiative­s to prevent ill-health such as prevention of coronary heart disease, reduction of smoking rates, improvemen­t in diet and physical activity, and both prevent and address the problems of drug and alcohol addiction.”

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