Deprived areas have higher levels of ill-health and disease, a report has warned today.

In his first annual report, the chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has highlighted the wide variation in health outcomes across the country.

The report reveals that more people are suffering from multiple chronic conditions, particularly in rural areas that have large elderly populations and less accessible health facilities.

Professor Whitty said: ‘I have brought together the latest data for health in England because they highlight major issues to tackle, identify where in the country they are heavily concentrated and trends in health over time.

’There is wide variation in ill health across the country, and much of this is avoidable. It is possible to raise the health outcomes of the least healthy closer to the outcomes of the healthiest - we should be aiming for that.’