"It would be marvellous if health was improving that much in the region. But I think we've got to be realistic about it. We have fantastic healthcare in the North-East, our Stop Smoking service in Easington is fantastic for instance, outperforming those in other areas by a distance.

But we are seeing other problems worsening, such as rising levels of obesity, our lung cancer rates are higher and I think we are yet to see a peak for industrial problems like asbestosis. No matter how brilliant our services are, progress is going to be slow and I would not want anyone to be given false expectations."