Health

Fife Health Board representatives have informed FifeWest Action Group that prescription rates for Bronch-inhalers are significantly higher in the Ballingry and Lochore areas than they are in comparable practices in similarly deprived areas of Fife. This staggering statistic is a ‘proxy indicator’ to the air quality in this area.

[Note: “The rate for Westfield practices (population 22,000) was compared with a number of GP practices elsewhere in Fife (population 106,000) that have similar deprivation bandings. The rate per thousand practice population was 651.7 for Westfield practices and 489.3 for the non-Westfield practices- i.e. the rate for Westfield practices was higher.”

– Information from Dr Charles Saunders, Consultant in Public Health Medicine (Communicable Disease & Environmental Health), Fife NHS Board[