Professor Christian Mallen and Dr Richard Partington of Keele University’s School of Medicine have provided clinical insight to a major Government report published by the Office for National Statistics.

The report, looking at the number of people with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions who are living in poverty in England, will be used to inform Government policy.

People experiencing cardiovascular and respiratory poor health are at greater risk of adverse health outcomes due to cold weather.

Estimating the number of people in the population at risk of adverse health outcomes from the cold is therefore essential to support any policy response to fuel price increases, and other policy decisions.

Using data from the 2021 Census and other sources, the new analysis has found that of the 10.8 million people living in private households who were estimated to be living in poverty, 1.3 million people had a cardiovascular or respiratory condition, representing 12%.

Professor Mallen said: “It is a pleasure to work with colleagues from the Office for National Statistics and the Department of Health and Social Care on such important work. This analysis will help clinicians and policymakers identify high risk groups and is an important steppingstone for future work.”