People in Newcastle can live longer, healthier lives – that’s the message of one of the UK’s leading health experts.
Launching the city’s new effort to improve public wellbeing, University College London’s Professor Sir Michael Marmot said its not just access to healthcare but ensuring a fairer society that’s important for improving outcomes for children and families.
“The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age - the social determinants of health - can harm health,” Prof. Marmot said.
“Newcastle has high levels of health inequalities and the people most affected are those in poverty and members of minoritised ethnic groups.
“Our partnership with Newcastle will work through the problems and solutions specific to the city, using evidence and local knowledge to prioritise the resources to address the social determinants of health, proportionate to need, and promote health equity.”
Becoming a Marmot City
Newcastle City Council has commissioned the help of UCL to support efforts to become what is known as a Marmot City.
Named after Prof. Marmot - who carried out the Government’s Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England, leading to the 'Fair Society, Healthy Lives' report (also known as the Marmot Review) in 2010 – places commit to promoting eight principles.
These are to:
- give every child the best start in life
- enable all children, young people, and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives
- create fair employment and good work for all
- ensure a healthy standard of living for all
- create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities
- strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention
- tackle racism, discrimination, and their outcomes
- pursue environmental sustainability and health equity together
They then seek to improve health equity over the short, medium and long term by:
- involving communities in identifying what drives poor health, and in creating and implementing actions to reduce them
- ensuring everyone can equitably access the support they need, regardless of their circumstances
- sharing knowledge and best practice with partners both locally and nationally
Director of public health for Newcastle, Alice Wiseman, used her recent annual report to highlight the challenges and work already underway to meet the Marmot principles.
“Already we have been working to better understand the inequalities our communities face and put health at the heart of our decision making,” Alice said, “and there is a clear link between a fairer society and improved health.
“We are delighted to be working with Sir Michael and the Marmot principles very much align with the council’s priorities of reducing poverty, making sure people reach their potential, that there are good jobs for all, and that we have an environmentally sustainable future.
“The aim of working with the Institute of Health Equity is to learn from their expertise and evidence, then take a different approach to addressing health inequalities.
“And becoming a Marmot City is an opportunity to further embed efforts to ensure the positive wellbeing of our residents in everything we do.”
Newcastle Marmot conference
On Wednesday 26 February 2025 hundreds of people interested in reducing health inequalities from across the North East came together at Newcastle Civic Centre to find out more about what the city is doing to improve public wellbeing.
It saw theatre, rap, and poetry performances by local children on what makes Newcastle a great place to live and how people in charge can make things better.
Topics of discussion included how employment can support health, the importance of digital inclusion, and the value of hearing the experiences of seldom heard groups including children, ethnic minorities and those recovering from drug and alcohol misuse.
Why a new approach is needed
Attendees at a conference at Newcastle Civic Centre heard that in Newcastle, life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are below the national average, with the average age that women and men stop living in good health more than 5 years before the state pensionable age.
That deterioration of health is even earlier for people living in more deprived areas.
Austerity measures, welfare reform, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have all damaged health and increased the difference in outcomes for people depending on where they live or how much they earn – what are known as health inequalities.
And the North East has seen the largest increase in these inequalities since 2010.
Evidence from other Marmot Places suggests working towards becoming a Marmot City can lead to reductions in health inequalities.
For example in Coventry the number of young people not in employment, education or training reduced by more than three times the national average, with the percentage of people considered to be living in deprivation also falling.
Cllr Karen Kilgour, leader of Newcastle City Council, said: ““We know there are many factors, such as education, employment and housing, that contribute to good health.
"Children born into the most deprived areas are most likely to experience health inequalities that can lead to poorer health or a shorter life expectancy compared to children born into more affluent areas.
"I am determined that we must take action to address this, and not simply accept that good health will be determined at birth or by where in our city you happen to live.
“We need to work together as a city to achieve positive change. Our commitment to becoming a Marmot City recognises the challenges we face, but more importantly will set out what we will do to give all our residents, now and in the future, the best possible opportunity of enjoying a healthy, happy life.”