Rochdale to help lead fight against heart disease ‘postcode lottery’

Rochdale has been awarded £460,000 by the British Heart Foundation to fight heart disease.

The town will help to lead the fight against the UK’s heart disease ‘postcode lottery’ through the BHF's UK-wide Hearty Lives programme, which aims to reduce geographical inequalities in heart disease.

In Rochdale 56% more men under 75 years of age die early from coronary heart disease than the national average for England and Wales, and 84% more women under 75.

The funding will allow NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale to trial a new project in targeted areas of the borough that could provide a model for other health services throughout the UK.

BHF Community Development Coordinator Bushra Nasreen said: “Your postcode should be a harmless indicator of where you live, not your odds of an early death from heart disease.

“We want people living in the borough of Rochdale to have the chance to enjoy better lives – to live long enough to play with their grandchildren and to continue to lead an active, healthy and fulfilling life well into their later years.”

The BHF will now work with NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale to develop a heart health programme suited to the needs of the local community.

“Heart disease and associated illnesses are some of our borough’s biggest killers. We have unacceptably high rates of death from heart disease in the borough and with the help of the British Heart Foundation we hope to change that,” said Bernadine O’Sullivan, consultant in public health at NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.
“We plan to use the Hearty Lives programme to reach the most deprived pockets of the community with the greatest health need.”

The BHF and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale will also work with Rochdale Council and local community groups to implement the programme, which will run over the next three years.

The award to the Rochdale borough is part of the BHF’s £9 million nationwide Hearty Lives programme, which is the first time the heart charity has worked in partnership with local NHS services and local authorities to tackle geographical inequalities in heart disease.