PLYMOUTH'S poorest residents die almost 15 years younger than the richest, according to figures revealing stark inequalities between neighbourhoods.

The widening gap in life expectancy is laid bare in a report published today by the city's director of public health.

It also shows shockingly higher rates of smoking in pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, childhood tooth decay and obesity in the city's deprived areas.

A child born in Devonport is expected to live to an average of 72.2 years, compared to 86.9 in Widewell. The gap of 14.7 years has increased from 12 since the previous year's estimate.

While 39 per cent of mums in Whitleigh smoke during pregnancy, the figure is 0 per cent in Glenholt and Woodford.

More than half of Barne Barton children have experienced tooth decay, compared to none in Glenholt and Widewell.

In Devonport, one in four children are obese. But Glenholt is recorded as having a 0 per cent obese children.

Debra Lapthorne, director of public health for Plymouth, said it is "unjust" that life is being "stolen" from the city's most disadvantaged residents.

She issued a rallying cry for city leaders to redouble efforts to tackle inequalities – in the face of major public spending cuts and NHS restructuring.

Ms Lapthorne said: "People are having time stolen from them because of the circumstances in which they live.

"The 14.7 years is a staggering amount of time to be snatched away from individuals and their families. They are dying before their time from things we could change."

She said the fact that the difference is based on people's social circumstances – where they are living, their opportunities and relative wealth – is "absolutely unjust".

"We are in the worst possible economic situation nationally, we are faced with swingeing cuts to services, we've got rising unemployment and an increasing life expectancy gap," she said.

"We either chose to do the same as we've done before – batten down the hatches, cut lots of services and protect our own. Or we chose as a city to address the underlying problems.

"Creating a fairer society in Plymouth is fundamental to improving the health of everyone in the city and ensuring that good health is not just the preserve of the rich."

Life expectancy has improved overall in Plymouth since 1997, she said.

The city's early death rates from cancer, heart disease and stroke have fallen in the past 10 years and continue to improve year on year.

Plymouth has also brought down smoking rates and increased breast feeding rates but huge inequalities between neighbourhoods persist.

"The national stats show that the gap is widening everywhere," said Ms Lapthorne. "It's gone in the wrong direction despite us improving some of the things that contribute to it.

"Health inequalities in Plymouth are, however, not inevitable and can be significantly reduced. They stem from avoidable inequalities in society – of income, education, employment and neighbourhood circumstances."

She stressed that focus must stay on reducing inequalities, promoting growth and raising aspirations as budget cuts bite, and services are reshaped.

Local councils face reduced funding and the NHS in Plymouth is looking to make £66 million worth of efficiency savings alongside massive structural changes.

When primary care trusts are scrapped in 2013, public health departments will moved from the NHS to councils – but have been promised a ring-fenced budget.

Ms Lapthorne said: "Partners will need to maintain their commitment to tackling inequalities and improving health through the turbulent times ahead and this will challenge us all.

"We know that local authorities nationally are looking to reduce funding for things like the Healthy Schools programme, which the Government has cut the grant for.

"Local authorities are having to make some very serious decisions and are trying to ensure that vulnerable people are protected."

Ms Lapthorne states in the report that Plymouth intends to become an "early implementer" of the proposed Health and Wellbeing Board to oversee a new public health strategy for the city.

She says this will "re-engage all partners in commitment and action to tackle health inequalities".

She said the last great health advance in the past 150 years was when Government cleared slums and provided better sanitation. The city needs a "radical shift" in implementing change, said Ms Lapthorne.

"A shift in thinking is needed," she explained.

"Government always sets out big changes and gets focused down on to smaller things, losing focus on larger societal changes.

"If we are going to tackle public health inequality, it's about changing the lot for local people.

"It needs to be on the scale of the Devonport New Deal for Communities project where they have transformed housing and education."

One of the main factors which causes preventable ill health and inequalities is smoking, she added.

"It's not just about information, we need to understand the culture of smoking in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods," she said.

"For example why women continue to smoke when they find out they are pregnant. Smoking in pregnancy is directly related to low birth rate, which is directly related to infant mortality. We need to find different ways of supporting women to make different choices."

Her report details work already being done to tackle issues by organisations including the NHS, council and joint bodies such as the Local Strategic Partnership.

Schemes including the Healthy Child and Healthy Schools programmes, sexual health initiatives, a young people's specialist substance misuse treatment service, the Stop Smoking Service, breastfeeding projects and community dental health promotion.

The report lays out six objectives published in an independent review 'Fair Society, Healthy Lives', which was commissioned by Government to tackle inequalities across the country.

They are to give every child the best start in life, enable all young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives, create fair employment and good work for all, ensure healthy standard of living for all, create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities, strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention. The report is due to be presented to health chiefs at today's NHS Plymouth board meeting.

How the figures stack up

PLYMOUTH'S annual public health report uses the following figures to demonstrate health inequalities for all ages:

More than one in three of Whitleigh's mums (39 per cent) smoke during

pregnancy, compared to Glenholt and Woodford where none do. The city

average is 18.5 per cent.

One in five (20 per cent) babies in

Tamerton are born with low birthweight, compared to none in Glenholt,

Chaddlewood and Turnchapel.

Ernesettle has the lowest

breastfeeding rate at six to eight weeks (10.5 per cent). Mutley and

Greenbank have the highest (56.3 per cent).

More than half (55.8

per cent) of Barne Barton children have experienced tooth decay. The

figure is zero in Glenholt and Widewell.

In Devonport, 26.2 per cent of children are obese, compared to zero per cent in Glenholt.

A teenager from Stonehouse is almost eight times more likely to become

pregnant than one from Plympton. The rate is 155.6/1,000 in Stonehouse

and 20.1/1,000 in Plympton.

35 per cent of families in Barne

Barton are classed as "vulnerable", compared to 1.2 per cent in

Chaddlewood. "Vulnerable" families are those who need extra support from

health or council services for a wide range of reasons including

unemployment disabilities, mental health problems or substance abuse

issues.

Ernesettle had the city's highest rate of emergency hospital admissions in 2009/10, while Hartley and Mannamead had the lowest.

The average life expectancy in Devonport is 72.2 years, and 86.9 in Widewell. The city average is 79.8 years.

You are 10 times more likely to die of a circulatory disease in Barne Barton than in Eggbuckland.

The eight most deprived Plymouth neighbourhoods are listed as

Devonport, Stonehouse, North Prospect, Barne Barton, Morice Town, East

End, Whitleigh and the city centre. The least deprived are Glenholt,

Plymstock, Goosewell, Colebrook and Newnham, Woodford, Hartley and

Mannamead, Elburton and Dunstone and Chaddlewood.

The list was

complied by NHS Plymouth's public health team in 2007, taking into

accounts factors including inadequate education and housing,

unemployment, income, poor health and low opportunities for enjoyment.