Widening health inequalities are Labour's most shameful NHS failure

10.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 14th Mar 2008

Health inequality as measured by life expectancy and infant mortality has got worse since Labour came to power, a government report said today. Babies born to poor families now have a 17% higher than average chance of dying, compared to a 13% higher than average chance 10 years ago. And the life expectancy of people living in poverty has fallen further behind the average, particularly for women since around Labour's election.

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Norman Lamb "For the past decade, this Government has delivered little more than broken promises on reducing health inequality. Too much vital investment has been wasted on organisational upheaval and top down bureaucracy. People from poor backgrounds and those unable to act as strong advocates for their own health continue to die younger and have a worse quality of life than the population as a whole."