Department of Health failing to close life expectancy gap, says MP  

• Gap in life expectancy between rich and poor has continued to widen • People in poorer areas on average die two years earlier than people in wealthier districts. Commenting on the National Audit Office report on the tackling of inequalities in life expectancy in areas with the worst health and deprivation, South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, a member of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “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...