Facts & figures about Herefordshire

Health and well-being

The Research Team works closely with Herefordshire's Public Health Department on research into the health and well-being of the county's residents, including the production of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.  Key findings of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the State of Herefordshire report are presented below, however more detailed topic pages about health and well-being are also available.

The Director of Public Health Summary Annual Report 2010 was published on the JSNA page in July 2011; previous years' reports are still available on the NHS Herefordshire website.

Key findings as identified in the 2011 State of Herefordshire Report and Joint Strategic Needs Assessment:

Strength

• Herefordshire has a longer life expectancy that is healthy and disability free and life expectancy in general than regionally and nationally
• The rate of overall premature mortality has fallen consistently over recent years and remains lower than nationally
• A high proportion of adults with learning disability have taken up personal budgets

Weakness

• Significant health inequalities exist between those living in the most and least deprived areas
• Increasing numbers of older people living in income deprivation

Opportunity

• The rate of deaths related to stroke has fallen more rapidly than nationally over recent years, but deaths from stroke remain higher than nationally
• Over the last 5 years 30 adults with learning disability have moved from care homes into their own tenancies; further developing appropriate housing and support options could allow more people to attain their own tenancies or move back to live in the county.

Threat and Challenge

• The levels of cancer and coronary heart disease are lower than nationally and regionally but they remain the county’s biggest killers 
• Accidents are responsible for the highest average years of life lost per death (since they tend to happen at younger ages).  Transport accidents are the biggest cause of death from accidents.
• Smoking remains the single most important cause of premature death, ill-health and hospital admission in Herefordshire
• Obesity is emerging as a major contributory factor to poor health, disability and premature death
• New analysis shows that physical inactivity and obesity levels are major causes of coronary heart disease and stroke
• Alcohol misuse is a growing problem, affecting A and E attendances, hospital admissions and crime levels, particularly alcohol-related assaults.
• In line with national trends suicide rates had been declining, but have not reduced further since 2002.  There was a small, although not statistically significant, rise in 2010.
• Numbers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) rose sharply in 2009
• The number of 18 - 64 year olds with disabilities in Herefordshire is likely to increase by 2026
• Reliance on and support for carers is currently a challenge and will only get worse in future years
• Adults with mental health disorders are a concern locally with higher than average numbers and work needed around the support via GPs and for housing
• Low numbers of adults with a learning disability of working age are currently supported in employment, (11% in 2010-11) although the proportions are among the highest in England.
• A substantial increase in numbers of older people that will have some dependency on social care in Herefordshire is expected by 2020.  Within this, there is also expected to be a disproportionate increase in the number of older people with dementia.
• Demography will impose increasing demands for learning disability services, especially age appropriate services, as one cohort of users and their carers age, and as another cohort of younger people with more profound disabilities move into adulthood.
  

Links to individual topic pages

Last updated: 20 December 2011