People in Blackburn with Darwen are living longer, but the gap between local life expectancy and that in some other parts of the country has grown, according to the latest report into the health needs of the local population.
The Public Health Annual Report 2010 reveals the current state of local health and sets out what needs to be done to improve the ‘life chances’ of the borough’s residents.
And for the first time, this year’s document looks beyond the issues of health and disease and takes into account the wider social and economic issues that affect health, such as education, housing, environment and worklessness.
The report, Equal Life Chances for all in a Generation, was launched at the first AGM of NHS Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus on September 29.
Director of public health, Dominic Harrison, believes it gives the broadest picture yet of the causes and outcomes of health inequality in the borough and says innovative partnership working means local services are well placed to tackle it.
He explains: “Our report shows that high levels of deprivation across the borough are generating poor social, economic and environmental conditions, which in turn leads to poor health behaviours and poor health outcomes.
“Yet against all of these challenges, life expectancy here has grown more over the last decade than at almost any other time in history, proving that we are able to add value through the health and social care services we provide.
“By looking across the whole range of factors that influence health we now have a good understanding of the cause of inequality, but all organisations need to work together alongside local residents to address these if we are to make ‘equal life chances for all in a generation’ a reality.
“The Care Trust Plus brings together health and social care services and we now have a single chief executive with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, so we have never been better placed to influence the many different factors that affect the health of local people.”
The report reveals that in Blackburn with Darwen:
-
residents had the fifth worst male and tenth worst female life expectancy in the country between 2006-8.
-
Since 1991-3, life expectancy has grown by just over three years for men and two and a half years for women
-
Even so, male life expectancy is currently 10 years less with that in Kensington and Chelsea – this gap has grown from eight years in 2008.
-
health inequalities are not just between Blackburn with Darwen and other local authorities. Even within the borough, the difference between the life expectancy of the 10% most and least wealthy men is 11.3 years and for women it is seven years.
In addition:
-
37% of adults have no educational qualifications
-
46% of houses are judged the be ‘non-decent’(without central heating double glazing, etc)
-
12.9% of households are in ‘fuel poverty’ – in other words, they need to spend more than 10% of their income to sustain adequate heating.
-
Worklessness is a key factor, with about 17,000 adults out of work in 2010.
The report sets out the shared aim of all public, private and voluntary sector organisations in the borough to reduce health inequalities by ensuring the right services and support are in place to give local children best start in life, while also working to improve health outcomes for older generations.
Recommendations include continued commitment to ‘pioneering’ early years services and Think Family, which provides intensive support for families, the development of a borough wide equality and diversity strategy and targeted actions around alcohol, tobacco and drug use.
A summary document and the full version of the Public Health Annual Report 2010 and Integrated Strategic Needs Assessment are available at www.bwd.nhs.uk/publichealth
