Page last updated: 24-JUN-2008

ScotPHO Health Profiles

Statistical Publication Notice

24 June 2008

2008 Health and Wellbeing Profiles for Community Health Partnership (CHP) Areas in Scotland link opens in a new window

INTRODUCTION

Community Health Partnerships were set up to support local joint working on health improvement. Service providers, planners and policy makers need robust information to improve understanding of local health issues and to set local issues in a national context. Local profiles can highlight health and social inequalities, show trends and  support priority setting and targeting of resources. The Community Health and Wellbeing profiles produced in 2004 by NHS Health Scotland were widely used for these purposes, but the data used in those profiles are now out of date, the postcode based geography has been superseded by geographies based on data zones and corresponding information for CHPs was lacking. The present release is the first complete set of profiles for Scotland’s 40 Community Health Partnerships (CHPs), based on the most recently available national set of data. Information is provided for a set of 61 indicators of health, wellbeing and determinants of health. The intended target audience includes health improvement directors and planners in CHPs, health promotion officers, public health practitioners, planners and other health professionals within NHS board areas; and researchers, planners and policy makers in local authorities and in voluntary sector organisations.

Outputs from this release include:

  • Individual profile reports for 30 CHPs in Scotland (this excludes the remaining 10 CHCPs in Greater Glasgow and Clyde since detailed profiles for these areas have been produced separately by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health (www.gcph.co.uk/communityprofiles );
  • A Scotland Overview report; and
  • A full Technical Report

We plan to publish additional sub-CHP data on the Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) website later in the year. These data will be based on the standard intermediate geography zones (IZs); areas with populations of around 2500 to 6000 people and also on locally defined areas for some NHS Boards.

KEY POINTS

The profiles present a large number of detailed results. Some examples of key findings include the following:
  • Male life expectancy ranges from 67.9 years in the worst CHP to 77.3 years in the best; whilst female life expectancy ranges from 75.1 years to 81.2 years.
  • The number of people admitted annually with alcohol related problems ranges from 521 to 1,505 per 100,000 people.
  • The number of people admitted annually with heart disease ranges from 501 to 1,010 per 100,000 people.
  • The percentage of babies exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks ranges from 14.3% in the worst CHP to 42.5% in the best.

INTERPRETATION

The indicators are intended to highlight potential issues and prompt further investigation and should not be used on their own to draw definitive conclusions. In particular, the following points are essential in order to make appropriate use of the data.

The need for local interpretation. There may be local factors that help to interpret a particular indicator, such as local problems with data quality or particular local health problems that are not reflected in any of the indicators. It is not possible to provide information about all of these local factors in a national set of profiles, but the indicators need to be interpreted in the light of such local knowledge.

Small numbers. Steps have been taken to suppress results that might risk disclosure of personal information. For some indicators small numbers mean that there is considerable statistical uncertainty around the indicator value, and comparisons between areas with similar indicator levels should therefore be made with caution. Where available the absolute numbers are provided beside each indicator result and users should take these into account.

Availability of more recent data. The profiles use data for time periods that had complete coverage across Scotland at the time the analyses were carried out. More recent data may be available for some indicators and for some areas. Users are advised to consult the Data Definitions and Sources table to confirm the time period used for each indicator and to check locally whether more recent data are available.

Use of ‘better’ and ‘worse’ descriptors in CHP spines. The present set of profiles arrange all indicators so that ‘better’ values lie to the right, whether these values are higher (such as for breast feeding) or lower (such as for mortality). This allows users to see the general pattern of results without having to check each indicator to see whether a higher value is a more favourable result. (This design however, is in contrast with the previous Health Scotland profiles and the current Glasgow CHP ones.) While this design may have advantages in terms of overall ease of interpretation, the labels ‘better’ and ‘worse’ should be interpreted with care. While ‘better’ is an obvious description of lower mortality and higher immunisation coverage, there are other indicators (such as the percentage of the population aged over 65  and over) where ‘worse’ and ‘better’ and not appropriate. There are also indicators (such as the level of prescribing) where the ‘correct’ level is a matter of judgement that requires a range of local factors to be taken into account.

Inappropriate comparisons. In general, the smaller the geographical unit of analysis, the wider inequalities will appear. So for example there is a wider range of life expectancy at intermediate zone than at CHP level. This also means that it is inappropriate to make comparisons between a small area (such as a CHP) and the whole of another country, as any other country is also likely to show variations in health at small levels.

Geographical issues. Users should note that some Community Health Partnerships are known as Community Health and Care Partnerships (CHCPs) or Community Health and Social Care Partnerships (CHaSCPs or CHSCPs). For simplicity, they are collectively referred to in these profiles as CHPs. Below the level of CHPs indicators have been produced for intermediate geography zones (IZs) for all of Scotland; detailed reports on IZ level indicators will be published later in 2008. Intermediate geographies are a standard geography based on data zones; there are a total of 1235 such areas in Scotland and they have a population of 2500 to 6000 people. In addition indicators have been produced for specific local areas for some NHS Boards.

DETAILED FINDINGS

The following section summarises some key findings from the community profiles.

Population (growth and distribution)
The individual CHP reports provide information on the age composition of the population as well as its total size. Scotland’s population as a whole is projected to increase by 5% from 5.12 million in 2006 to 5.36 million by 2026, with the largest increase among those aged 75 and over. Among council areas, the largest projected increases between 2006 and 2026 are in West Lothian and Perth & Kinross (18%), while the largest declines (8%) are in East Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde. Among CHPs, West Lothian and East Renfrewshire have some of the youngest populations, while Western Isles and Dumfries & Galloway have the highest percentages of older people.

Male life expectancy
This is an overall health indicator that reflects the risk of mortality at all stages of life and predicts the lifespan of a newborn child if it was to experience current local mortality rates for all of its life. For male life expectancy 2001-2005, the Scottish average was 73.9 years, but there was a gap of over 9 years between the best CHP (East Dunbartonshire, 77.3 years) and the worst (North Glasgow, 67.9 years).

Female life expectancy
For Scotland as a whole, female life expectancy is over 5 years longer than that of males. For female life expectancy 2001-2005, the Scottish average was 79.1 years, but there was a gap of over 6 years between the best CHP (Orkney, 81.2 years) and the worst (North Glasgow, 75.1 years).

Alcohol related and alcohol attributable hospital patients 
Alcohol is an important cause of mortality and ill-health across Europe, and there is concern about rapidly rising death rates from liver disease in Scotland. At Scotland level, an average of 860 people per 100,000 per year were admitted to hospital between 2004 and 2006 because of reasons related or attributable to alcohol. This varied from 521 per 100,000 in East Dunbartonshire CHP to 1,505 per 100,000 in East Glasgow CHCP.

Heart disease hospital patients
Although the numbers of people being admitted to hospital for heart disease are falling, this remains a major cause of hospitalisation in Scotland. At Scotland level, an average of 711 people per 100,000 per year were admitted to hospital with heart disease between 2004 and 2006, but this varied from 501 per 100,000 in Dumfries & Galloway CHP to 1,010 per 100,000 in Inverclyde CHCP.

Emergency admission hospital patients
Although some emergency hospital admissions are unavoidable, many are thought to be preventable.
At Scotland level, an average of 6,231 people per 100,000 per year were admitted to hospital as an emergency between 2004 and 2006. This varied from 4,666 in East Dunbartonshire CHP to 8,038 in East Glasgow CHCP.

Working age population claiming Jobseekers Allowance
This indicator reflects local unemployment rates. At Scotland level, 2.8% of the working age population were claiming Jobseekers Allowance in the quarter ending February 2007. This figure varied from 1.0% in Aberdeenshire CHP to 4.9% in Kirkcaldy & Levenmouth CHP.

Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is recognised as being of key importance for child health. At Scotland level, 27.1% of babies were exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks, in the period 2004-2006. The highest percentage was 42.5% in Edinburgh CHP and the lowest was 14.3% in East Glasgow CHCP.  It should, however, be noted that data were not available for all CHPs.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

MAIN CONTACTS:

Linsey Galbraith
Principal Information & Development Officer
Tel: 0131 275 6227   Mobile: 07767 322170
Linsey.Galbraith@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk

-----------------------------------------------------------------

GLOSSARY:

CHP – Community Health Partnership
CHCP – Community Health and Care Partnership
CHSCP – Community Health and Social Care Partnership
IZ- Intermediate geography/intermediate zone
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------

PRE-RELEASE ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICATION WAS GIVEN TO:

NHS Chief Executives
NHS Directors of Public Health
Director/General Manager of each CHP area
Profiles Project Board members
Scottish Government Policy Leads
NHS Health Scotland Communications
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------

HISTORY OF THIS PUBLICATION:

This is the first publication of CHP health and wellbeing prifiles


Main contact: Email Linsey Galbraith