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State of the nation's health revealed

News Release issued by the Government News Network on 30 June 2009

Advances in the nation's health are revealed today in the fourth annual set of local Health Profiles.

Key findings include:

• early deaths from heart disease, stroke and cancer are falling
• more state school children spend at least two hours a week on sport or PE
• smoking-related deaths are falling
• life expectancy rises, both in affluent and disadvantaged areas, but the average length of life continues to be shorter in many disadvantaged areas
• average hospital stays due to alcohol related conditions rise

Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said:

"The health of the nation is improving, thanks to excellent work by dedicated people throughout the NHS and local authorities, underpinned by Government action and the means to do the job. It is good to see that people can expect to live longer, that early deaths from heart disease, cancer and smoking-related diseases are decreasing. I'm particularly pleased to see more children enjoying at least two hours of school sports and PE.

"But people living in some areas are still healthier than those living in other areas, which is unacceptable. The NHS and local authorities need to work with this published information to identify what the issues are in their area and take action for the sake of the health of their local population."

The Health Profiles show:

• the rate of early deaths (under 75) from heart disease and stroke has continued to fall across England to 79 per hundred thousand, from 84 in last year's profile.
• early deaths (under 75) from cancer have continued to fall across England, to 116 per hundred thousand from 117.
• deaths from smoking-related diseases in people aged 35+ continue to fall across England, to 210 per hundred thousand, from 225.
• life expectancy at birth continues to improve across England for both men and women, but there is still wide variation across the country.
• Proportion of 5-16 year old children in state schools who spend at least two hours a week on high quality physical education or school sports has risen to 90%, from 86% last year

Alison Hill, Director of the South East Public Health Observatory, which produces the health profiles, explained that the aim is to give commissioners of health and social care crucial up-to-date knowledge. She said:

"This enables them to spend their money where it will do most good. The literature and evidence suggest that childhood obesity can be tackled by promoting breastfeeding, a healthy diet in childhood and more physical activity. Health Profiles can help local authorities with high rates of childhood obesity to look at all these factors in a joined up way."

Health Profiles provide a snapshot of health for each council area in England using key health measures, which enables comparison locally, regionally and in some cases over time. They are designed to help local councils and the NHS decide where to target action and resources in their area.

A detailed breakdown of the health profile national findings is attached.

ENDS

Health Profiles are compiled by the Public Health Observatories for the Department of Health, using the most up to date data available. They are intended to give the NHS, local authorities and other partners an insight into the health of residents to enable resources and initiatives to be better targeted, and to support local needs assessments, policies and planning. They have been used successfully for a variety of purposes including:

• informing Joint Strategic Needs Assessments and other strategic plans
• preparing briefings for senior officials at national, regional and local level
• supporting funding applications for third sector organisations
• identifying neighbourhood baseline data for inequalities target

Key national findings include:-

Heart disease and stroke

• account for almost 40% of all deaths and almost 30% of deaths under 75.
• The rate of early deaths (under 75) from heart disease and stroke has continued to fall across England to 79 per hundred thousand, from 84 in last year's profile.
• There is a wide range in death rates between local authorities varying from 40 per hundred thousand in East Dorset to 131 per hundred thousand in Manchester.

Cancer

• Early deaths (under 75) from cancer have continued to fall across England, to 116 per hundred thousand from 117 in last year's profile.
• There is a wide range in rates between local authorities varying from 76 per hundred thousand (Kensington and Chelsea) to 164 per hundred thousand (Liverpool).

Deaths from smoking-related diseases in people aged 35+

• have continued to fall across England, to 210 per hundred thousand, from 225 in last year's profile
• There is a wide range in the rate of deaths due to smoking across local authorities.
• The local authority with the worst death rate from smoking (Manchester, 330 per hundred thousand) has more than double the death rate from smoking in the local authority with the best rate (Kensington and Chelsea, 134 per hundred thousand).
• In general, the death rate from smoking-related diseases is still higher in the north of England compared with the south.

Life expectancy at birth

• continues to improve across England for both men and women, but there is still wide variation across the country.
• Men in the local authority with the highest life expectancy (Kensington and Chelsea, 83.7 years) can expect to live 10.5 years longer than those in the local authority with the lowest life expectancy (Blackpool, 73.2 years).
• Women in the local authority with the highest life expectancy (Kensington and Chelsea, 87.8 years) can expect to live 9.6 years longer than those in the local authority with the lowest life expectancy (Hartlepool, 78.1 years).

The Government has put in place the most comprehensive programme ever in this country to address inequalities, including setting the first national target to reduce inequalities in health outcomes by 10% as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy at birth by 2010. Progress is being made, but there is still much to do.

Average hospital stays due to alcohol-related harm

• have risen to 1,473 per 100,000 population in 2007/08 from 1,384 per 100,000 in 2006/07. The way this data is collected has changed.
• There is a wide range in the rates of hospital stays due to alcohol-related harm across local authorities.
• In general, rates of hospital stays due to alcohol-related harm are higher in the north of England compared to the south.

Previously, admissions statistics only counted the three most common types of alcohol-related diseases: alcoholic liver disease, alcohol poisoning, and mental and behavioural disorders. The new methodology measures a total of 45 conditions which research shows are caused by or strongly associated with alcohol consumption. The new figures show there were 863,000 such admissions in 2007/8 (accounting for 6 per cent of all admissions) compared with 510,000 in 2002/3.

Physical education

The proportion of 5-16 year old children in state schools who spend at least two hours per week on high quality physical education or school sports has risen to 90% (from 86% in the previous report), with the two highest local authorities of Exeter and West Devon reporting 100% and the lowest (Surrey Heath) 78%.

Some indicators have been newly introduced to the 2009 health profiles, including excess winter deaths and over 65s not in good health (based on 2001 census data).

Excess Winter Deaths are included in the Health Profiles for the first time. These show as a percentage how much higher the local authority death rate is in the winter months (December to March) compared to the rest of the year.

• The average Excess Winter Deaths for England between August 2004 and July 2007 was 17% i.e. 17% more people died in winter months than in non-winter months.
• Excess Winter Deaths do not appear to conform to any pattern across England.

Health Profiles are available in printed form, and online. The Health Profiles 'family' consists of local Health Profiles at district/unitary, county and regional level, and the Health Profile for England (produced annually within the Department of Health).

The Health Profiles are presented in an easy-to-read format, comparing each area's health against the national average for each indicator. They are available online at www.healthprofiles.info

For media enquiries contact the Department of Health press office on 020 7210 5221. For all other enquiries, contact the customer service centre on 020 7210 4850.

Regional media should contact the Communications Team at their local Strategic Health Authority for comments and interviews. For information about the Health Profiles, contact Penny Cole on 07951 350835.

The Health Profiles for each local authority are also available in printed format and can be requested through www.healthprofiles.info