Plan launched to boost social regeneration in Kent

A 10-year plan to spearhead social regeneration in some of the most deprived areas of Kent has been launched.

The project aims to make the health care system in Medway and Swale more efficient by reducing the workload of individual operators through collaboration.

Natalie Goldring, head of public health intelligence at Medway Council, has presented data which showed how deprivation and other factors negatively impacted on life expectancy.

It showed that between some wards of the towns, there was a difference of 10 years for the average life expectancy.

Dr Goldring was addressing members of Medway’s volunteering, social care, health care, housing and education sectors at a conference aiming to raise living standards and health of residents.

Delegates heard that only 20% of a person’s health was influenced by the healthcare they received, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The remaining 80% was down to factors including housing, diet, income, job status and education.

Ashley Hook, chief executive of a Chatham-based social homes provider, said poor quality housing and the impact it had on people’s health represented a £1.4bn cost to the NHS every year.

The conference was arranged by the Medway and Swale Health and Care Partnership.

Nikki Teesdale, director of delivery at the partnership, said there were no excuses for inaction.

She said: “We’ve all been to conferences where everyone talks about working together and agrees about the importance of collaborating.

“Then we all go back to our silos and have to deal with our separate crises and nothing changes – that will not happen here.

“Social regeneration goes beyond being just an abstract idea or a concept - it is a call to action, a commitment to rebuild and revitalise the very fabric of our society.”

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