Healthy Life Expectancy: England

Lord Patel Excerpts

Monday 18th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

As I mentioned in an earlier answer, this is a long-term and complex matter which has developed over a number of years. It is totally unacceptable that a woman in Hartlepool, for example, will enter ill health some 19 years earlier than a woman in Richmond-upon-Thames. It is about embedding action on health in policies across government. However, as I mentioned, it is also about redesigning the system around the three shifts: emphasis on prevention rather than on sickness, in particular, but also a move to community-based health services, so that people can access healthcare where and when they need it, and, of course, digital access, too.

[Lord Patel (CB)]

My Lords, healthy life expectancy is a mix of two data: a more precise life expectancy and a much cruder self-reporting of the stages of health. This leads to a confusing interpretation and therefore is not helpful in policy-making decisions. We have to find and seek better information about healthy life expectancy and the parameters that affect it, to be more effective in policy decisions. Does the Minister agree?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I definitely agree. That is why data, particularly that which drives us to make funding decisions to get funding to where it is needed most, is absolutely crucial. I find the term “healthy life expectancy” more useful than what used to be called “life expectancy”. That, to me, was always only one side of the coin. However, I take on board the point that the noble Lord makes.