A public health grant of more than £1million is set to be slashed despite fears being raised by MPs in the borough.

Enfield’s share of a £200million nationwide pot for public health is set to be lost and concerns reveal the pressure is rising on Enfield’s health services.

A joint letter from David Burrowes, MP for Enfield Southgate, and Joan Ryan, MP for Enfield North, urging the government to think twice about cutting the grant, has fallen on deaf ears.

“This Wednesday, when the Chancellor announces details of his spending review, he will no doubt tell us that he is protecting the NHS budget.

“Yet by slashing the funding for public health he will only add to the pressures facing the Enfield NHS Clinical Commissioning Group which is already running a hefty £14.6 million deficit,” said Monty Meth, president of Enfield Over 50s Forum, who backed the cross-party letter.

Enfield’s public health budget is already 13.6 per cent below the target figure set by the Department of Health.

The MPs wrote to Jane Ellison, the Minister for Public Health, and put questions to her warning that Enfield is already struggling with the fifth highest rates of obesity in London and wide health inequalities.

Mr Meth added: “At the same time as we face another cut to the present under-funded grant, Public Health England has warned that nearly 12 per cent of Enfield’s population aged over 16 have dangerous blood sugar levels which can, if not controlled, lead to serious health conditions ranging from stroke to amputations and blindness - and 30,000 local residents are in danger of developing Type 2 diabetes.

“Annual in-patient care, to treat short and long-term complications of diabetes is estimated at between £1,800 and £2,500 per patient per year.”

Enfield is currently the fourth largest borough in the capital but ranks 25th in the funding allocation for public health.

“It seems crazy to cut public health funding when long-term health conditions now accounts for 70 per cent of the NHS budget and these conditions are reducible by changes in a person’s lifestyle.

“The key task for public health in Enfield where obesity and people being overweight costs the borough some £80 million a year in health costs and diabetes accounts for some 10% of the local NHS budget,” Mr Meth added.