Councillor says Killingbeck and Seacroft ward has 'some of worst health outcomes in the country' after coronavirus death statistics released

A councillor said a Leeds ward has 'some of the worst health outcomes in the country' - after new coronavirus death statistics for the city were released by the ONS.
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The three highest fatality rate wards were Colton, Austhorpe & Whitkirk with 32, Seacroft North & Monkswood with 25 and Roundhay Park & Slaid Hill with 19.

Councillor Paul Drinkwater (Labour - Killingbeck and Seacroft) said the relationship between poverty and health 'is well documented' in response to new ONS data of coronavirus deaths in the city.

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Cllr Drinkwater told the Yorkshire Evening Post that good quality healthy food and better health education can contribute to improvements 'but poorer families struggle financially to make good food and health choices which may be more easy for higher income families'.

Leeds councilLeeds council
Leeds council

Cllr Drinkwater said: "This ward has some of the worst health outcomes in the Country.

"The relationship between poverty and health is well documented.

"Anecdotally it would appear that higher death rates from Covid are often due to the prevalence of other underlying health conditions suffered by poorer communities.

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"Good quality healthy food and better health education can all contribute to improvements but poorer families struggle financially to make good food and health choices which may be more easy for higher income families.

"We continue to support initiatives to help our community.

"Currently I am helping out by collecting foodstuffs on behalf of the Killingbeck and Seacroft hub from Fare Share, LCC hub and Warburtons and assisting with distribution to those at high risk and in need of support.

"The ongoing work is extremely important.

"With less and less social housing available and more people in higher need we are seeing a concentration of poverty and associated issues on what’s left of our housing estates.

"The only answer to this is a huge council house building programme across the City including out lying towns and villages and the scrapping of right to buy.

"We are still selling more houses than we are building."

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A Leeds council spokesperson said the city had 'thankfully not been as badly affected by coronavirus as other parts of the country'.

The council also extended its condolences to those who have died during the pandemic.

A council spokesperson said: "To date, Leeds has thankfully not been as badly affected by Covid 19 as other parts of the country.

"However around 600 people in the city have sadly died and the city extends our deepest condolences to those people who have been affected. This includes people who died in hospital, in care homes, hospices and at home. In some cases, Covid 19 was the cause of death or it may have been recorded on the death certificate as a contributory factor.

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"When we look across the city, the numbers of people who have died per ward are very small; because of this we need to be cautious about making statements about patterns or associations with other factors. It could be by chance that one area has more deaths than another."

Leeds Council added 'there is currently no evidence that higher numbers of deaths in different wards are linked to specific events or gathering' and 'as death data is collected based on where people live rather than where they gather this seems highly unlikely'.

The statement continued: "Public Health officers have carried out analysis on the available data.

"Part of this analysis involves looking at what proportion of the total population in each ward have died.

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"This is often presented as a rate per 1,000 of the resident population.

"For most of the wards in the city, any difference between the ward rate and the Leeds average rate is not ‘statistically significant’, this means the difference could have occurred due to chance and may not represent a true difference.

"Where there is a large or ‘statistically significant’ difference between the Leeds average rate and that of an individual ward, this may be due to a number of factors.

"There is an indication that in some wards this difference might be due to an association with deprivation, something we often unfortunately see in deaths due to other causes.

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"Other factors that could affect the number of deaths in a ward include having a higher proportion of clinically vulnerable residents, some of whom may live in a care home.

"However, early analysis suggest that care home deaths in a particular ward are unlikely to be the only reason that rates are higher.

"It may also be the case that there are higher numbers of reported Covid deaths in areas where there has been more testing."

Councillor Peter Gruen (Labour - Cross Gates and Whinmoor) said it had been 'very distressing' to hear about the coronavirus death statistics.

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Cllr Gruen told the Yorkshire Evening Post the demographic of his ward indicate a higher proportion of elderly people vulnerable to the virus.

Cllr Gruen said: "It has been very distressing to hear about these deaths, including residents in Cross Gates and Whinmoor.

"The demographic of my ward indicate that we have a higher proportion of elderly people and, as we know, they are more vulnerable to this virus; especially if they already have r siting long term health issues. Local data also indicates there is a higher than average frailty factor.

"We are very supportive of the two excellent local Good Neighbourhood networks in Swarcliffe and Cross Gates.

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"Their front line activity in phoning their members to keep in touch and welcoming new referrals has been very impressive. As Ward Councillors we have allocated significant funding to help.

"I have also had regular conversations with our Police colleagues to share local intelligence and follow up on issues."

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