Having a long-term condition (LTC) impacts all aspect of life for individuals and families, such as employment, income, education and social opportunities, and often results in increasing reliance on welfare support.
More of our residents have a long-term condition and develop that condition at an earlier age than many similar places. Almost one in three people registered with a doctor in Barking and Dagenham have a LTC, including one in six before the age of 40, which is the age LTCs normally start to develop. This is partly why healthy life expectancy of residents – i.e. years without a limiting condition impacting normal activities – is five years lower than other areas of London and England.
Income, housing and environment are building blocks of health, affecting it as much or more than healthcare. Deprivation and inequalities in these ‘building blocks of health’ are major drivers of ill health, despite long term conditions and their consequence of early death, being largely preventable.
We can change it through evidence-based actions at scale, including for cardiovascular disease and diabetes from which our residents die prematurely at a greater rate than elsewhere. This is why we are supporting residents with LTCs through our participation in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.
Health and disease prevention really are everyone’s business, as everyone has a role to play and everyone benefits. We need to work with our communities through neighbourhood working to produce environments and interventions that promote and support health, such as supporting people to know how to manage their own health, providing the building blocks for good health (e.g. housing, employment), creating healthier environments (e.g. for food) and preventing exposure to health harms (e.g. illegal cigarettes). The healthy choice needs to become the easy, rather than difficult, choice.
There is also more we can do for residents living with health conditions. In the borough right now, we estimate there are around 38,000 cases of common conditions likely undiagnosed and therefore unmanaged; we can work with health colleagues to find them and get them into treatment.
Those already diagnosed with a health condition need to be supported to manage it and not progress to getting additional conditions, which is all too common. We need to ensure they get the optimum treatment and are supported to manage their condition as much as they can.
Our ability to make progress depends on trust, and trust grows when we engage with people directly in their everyday environments. It starts here, facilitated by approaches such as neighbourhood working, tailoring employment services for people with health conditions and community-led health and wellbeing pop-ups that we are pioneering as a place.
Health should be an enabler rather than barrier for their social and economic aspirations. Let’s act early, act together, and do it at scale.
| Measure | LBBD | London | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy life expectancy at birth (males) | 59.6 | 62.9 | 60.9 |
| Healthy life expectancy at birth (females) | 59 | 62.9 | 61.3 |
Please note: This is the latest available data as at 1st February 2026.
Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy
Health and Wellbeing Board