More than one in 20 people in Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant said they were in poor health, census data reveals

The data shows wide disparities in health across England and Wales. Health think tank the Nuffield Trust said the postcode lottery of health tracks socio-economic deprivation, and called on the government to address disparities in healthcare, provision and overall health guidance.

Office for National Statistics figures show 5.7 per cent of residents in Portsmouth said they were in ‘bad or very bad’ general health in the 2021 census. In Gosport it was 5.3 per cent and Havant was 5.1 per cent. Only Fareham fared significantly better on 3.5 per cent – or one in 29.

Nationally, 5.4 per cent of people responded to the census saying they were in bad or very bad health.

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The Nuffield Trust said people living in certain areas fair much worse than others, and that the improvement in health across the country has not been enjoyed uniformly.

Sally Gainsbury, senior fellow at the think tank, highlighted the impact socio-economic factors had on people's health. She said: ‘The role of socio-economic inequalities was often overlooked in health inequalities policy in the decade up until the pandemic. NHS England needs to follow through with their new focus on economic deprivation, as well as other, often related, drivers of health inequalities such as racial discrimination and social exclusion.

‘We look forward to the government giving these issues the attention they deserve in the long-delayed white paper on health inequalities.’

By the ONS ranking of health levels – which takes into account poor health, disability and unpaid care – Fareham ranks 35th, Havant 191st, Gosport 199th and Portsmouth 201st of England and Wales's 331 local authority areas.

The Department for Health and Social Care said the gap in the number of years people live in good health is ‘stark and unacceptable’. A spokesperson added: ‘We recently announced a major conditions strategy to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.

‘There is already work ongoing across the North East, with the local Integrated Care Board investing £39m over the next three years to prevent ill health and address health disparities.’