THE most deprived parts of Herefordshire lie in the city of Hereford.

The latest table relating to deprivation shows that four out of the worst five areas are in the city.

More than 40 Herefordshire wards are listed in the table, which is included in the annual report of the county's director of public health Dr Mike Deakin.

They are placed in order of supposed deprivation with the aid of facts and figures from national statistics.

Heading the most deprived list is Belmont, followed by St Martin's, Central, Leominster east and south and Hinton.

The least deprived are said to be the areas of Bircher, Clehonger, Ledbury, Burmarsh and Hope End.

Wide ranging factors were used to establish places in the league table, including income, car ownership, facilities in the homes and the number of people to each room.

In his report Dr Deakin said it was well recognised that people living in more deprived circumstances had an increased risk of serious illness and premature death compared with those living in more affluent circumstances.

He had reservations about calculating standard death rates on a ward basis because of uncertainties around population estimates for small wards.

But it was shown that the death rate in the five most deprived areas of the county was significantly higher that the average in Herefordshire, while in the five least deprived wards it was significantly lower.

Dr Deakin said inequalities in health existed in Herefordshire, as everywhere else. Reducing them needed to be a high priority for Herefordshire Primary Care Trust and its partner organisations.

Much work was already being done through working within the Herefordshire Partnership and other initiatives, notably the South Wye Healthy Living Community project and the Travellers Health project.

Dr Deakin expressed a word of caution over the figures in the table listing deprivation. Many of the statistics related to the 1991 census and could be a bit unreliable matched to today's circumstances.

Referring to Belmont he said there had been huge development there in the last 10 years and it would be interesting to see the results of the 2001 census.

In his report Dr Deakin urged people in Herefordshire who received questionnaires on adult health and lifestyles similar to one undertaken in the West Midlands in 2001 to complete them.

Low response rate

On that occasion the response had been low, 41 per cent returned in Herefordshire and 32.9 per cent in the region.

Dr Deakin said some people were reluctant to spend the time doing it, others were uncomfortable or wary about providing information about themselves while some questioned the need to spend money in such a way.

But it was important health authorities obtained good information on which to base the planning of NHS services and information about risks and lifestyles was necessary to direct resources the right way towards prevention and health promotion activities.

Good response rates meant more representative results.

l While Belmont was named most deprived in Herefordshire it rated 913 position in England.

l Bircher, rated best in the county, was 6,526 in England.