“In England in the early 2000s, people in the poorest neighbourhoods died on average seven years earlier than people living in the wealthiest neighbourhoods and spent far more of their lives in poor health.

“The government set its target to deal with health inequalities in 2000 but, despite publishing several policy documents, no focused action was taken until 2006-07. The gap in life expectancy between the Department's 70 'spearhead' areas of high deprivation and the national average has continued to widen, with people in poorer areas dying around two years earlier.

“With such an unhurried approach from the Department of Health it is no surprise that there has been little substantive improvement in health outcomes for the poorest people. The Department of Health needs to do better than this”.