Looks Like Colchester Health Authority Has No Worries About Budget Cuts

Health bosses will target smokers on Colchester’s Greenstead estate.

The town’s St Andrews ward is one of six problem areas NHS North Essex Essex is desperate to tackle.

So, health bosses are spending scarece resources targeting people enjoying a legal activity, are they?

What’s more, an activity which brings in far more money in tax revenues that it ever costs...

Initiatives include giving residents incentives to make a stop-smoking pledge.

Tim Young, ward councillor, speaking at a community meeting in Greenstead, said:“The figures for women smoking during pregnancy are not so good for this area, so I have asked NHS officers to look at the demographics of this.

“We think it is younger age groups that are smoking during pregnancy and people living in deprived wards in the borough.”

Tim Young’s effort to bring the ‘deprivation’ excuse into the mix notwithstanding, the demographics certainly are interesting.

According to figures from NHS North East Essex, 19 per cent of people living in Colchester and Tendring smoke.

The national figure is 21 per cent.

So, lower than the national average? Yet much higher in ‘at risk’ groups?

A total of 22.5 per cent of pregnant women in north-east Essex smoke.

The national average is 14 per cent.

Curious. I wonder what the reason for this is? I expect the experts will assume it's because of 'bad role models' (and will have probably had orgasms at the picture that MummyLongLegs points to here). But surely they exist elsewhere too?

Other public sector workers are similarly spending those so-called 'scarce' resources on this:

Council officials, health bosses and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service have joined forces to encourage people to make their homes smoke free.

The Smoke Free Homes campaign asks householders to promise to turn their homes into healthier places by banning or restricting tobacco smoke.

People who sign up will get a support pack containing information leaflets, smoke-free signs, a certificate and a free fire safety visit.

I do like the way they call it a ‘free’ fire safety visit.

In what way is it not paid for by taxes, then?

Leg-Iron has some good advice for those sick to death of this state-sponsored bullying.