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Bedford

Published on 03/03/2020

Area type: Unitary authority
Region: East of England

Local Authority Health Profile 2019

This profile gives a picture of people’s health in Bedford. It is designed to act as a ‘conversation starter’, to help local government and health services understand their community’s needs, so that they can work together to improve people’s health and reduce health inequalities.

Visit https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/health-profiles for more area profiles, more information and interactive maps and tools.


Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2019
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2019
Local authority displayed with full resolution clipped boundary

Health in summary

The health of people in Bedford is varied compared with the England average. About 14.9% (4,960) children live in low income families. Life expectancy for both men and women is similar to the England average.

Health inequalities

Life expectancy is 11.6 years lower for men and 6.4 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Bedford than in the least deprived areas.

Child health

In Year 6, 21.1% (431) of children are classified as obese. The rate for alcohol-specific hospital admissions among those under 18 is 21*, better than the average for England. This represents 8 admissions per year. Levels of GCSE attainment (average attainment 8 score) are worse than the England average. Levels of breastfeeding and smoking in pregnancy are better than the England average.

Adult health

The rate for alcohol-related harm hospital admissions is 593*, better than the average for England. This represents 973 admissions per year. The rate for self-harm hospital admissions is 217*, worse than the average for England. This represents 360 admissions per year. The rate of new sexually transmitted infections is better than the England average. The rate of statutory homelessness is better than the England average. The rate of violent crime (hospital admissions for violence) is worse than the England average.

* rate per 100,000 population

Health summary for Bedford

Key

Significance compared to goal / England average:

compEng compEng2 comp1 text1 comp2 text2
Significantly worse Significantly lower Increasing / Getting worse Increasing / Getting better
Not significantly different Significantly higher Decreasing / Getting worse Decreasing / Getting better
Significantly better Significance not tested Increasing Decreasing
Increasing (not significant) Decreasing (not significant)
Could not be calculated No significant change

Life expectancy and causes of death

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
1 Life expectancy at birth (male) All ages 2016 - 18 n/a 79.8 80.3 79.6
2 Life expectancy at birth (female) All ages 2016 - 18 n/a 83.5 83.7 83.2
3 Under 75 mortality rate from all causes <75 yrs 2016 - 18 1398 322.0 302.1 330.5
4 Mortality rate from all cardiovascular diseases <75 yrs 2016 - 18 305 70.7 63.4 71.7
5 Mortality rate from cancer <75 yrs 2016 - 18 541 126.5 126.0 132.3
6 Suicide rate 10+ yrs 2016 - 18 53 12.1 9.96 9.64

Injuries and ill health

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
7 Killed and seriously injured (KSI) rate on England’s roads All ages 2016 - 18 227 44.5 46.7 42.6 ~
8 Emergency hospital admission rate for intentional self-harm All ages 2018/19 360 217.4 173.1 193.4
9 Emergency hospital admission rate for hip fractures 65+ yrs 2018/19 175 559.9 563.5 558.4
10 Percentage of cancer diagnosed at early stage All ages 2017 371 56.8 54.7 52.2
11 Estimated diabetes diagnosis rate 17+ yrs 2018 n/a 77.4 76.7 78.0
12 Estimated dementia diagnosis rate 65+ yrs 2019 1256 64.5 * 65.7 * 68.7 *

Behavioural risk factors

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
13 Hospital admission rate for alcohol-specific conditions <18 yrs 2016/17 - 18/19 25 21.2 23.4 31.6
14 Hospital admission rate for alcohol-related conditions All ages 2018/19 973 593.0 633.6 663.7
15 Smoking prevalence in adults 18+ yrs 2018 20084 15.3 14.0 14.4
16 Percentage of physically active adults 19+ yrs 2017/18 n/a 63.5 65.4 66.3
17 Percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese 18+ yrs 2017/18 n/a 60.9 62.1 62.0

Child health

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
18 Teenage conception rate <18 yrs 2017 61 21.0 16.0 17.8
19 Percentage of smoking during pregnancy All ages 2018/19 173 8.59 9.68 ~ 10.6
20 Percentage of breastfeeding initiation All ages 2016/17 1730 79.7 76.1 74.5
21 Infant mortality rate <1 yr 2016 - 18 27 4.11 3.36 3.93
22 Year 6: Prevalence of obesity (including severe obesity) 10-11 yrs 2018/19 431 21.1 18.0 20.2

Inequalities

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
23 Deprivation score (IMD 2015) All ages 2015 n/a 19.2 - 21.8
24 Smoking prevalence in adults in routine and manual occupations 18-64 yrs 2018 n/a 25.8 25.7 25.4

Wider determinants of health

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
25 Percentage of children in low income families <16 yrs 2016 4960 14.9 14.1 17.0
26 Average GCSE attainment (average attainment 8 score) 15-16 yrs 2018/19 79153 45.3 47.0 46.9
27 Percentage of people in employment 16-64 yrs 2018/19 81900 77.7 78.4 75.6
28 Statutory homelessness rate - eligible homeless people not in priority need Not applicable 2017/18 24 0.34 0.65 0.79
29 Violent crime - hospital admission rate for violence (including sexual violence) All ages 2016/17 - 18/19 290 58.2 33.6 44.9

Health protection

Indicator Age Period Count Value (Local) Value (Region) Value (England) Change from previous
30 Excess winter deaths index All ages Aug 2017 - Jul 2018 116 24.4 30.9 30.1
31 New STI diagnoses rate (exc chlamydia aged <25) 15-64 yrs 2018 752 702.6 614.9 850.6
32 TB incidence rate All ages 2016 - 18 44 8.62 5.65 9.19

For full details on each indicator, see the definitions tab of the Local Authority Health Profiles online tool.
For a full list of profiles produced by Public Health England, see the fingertips website: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/

Indicator value types

1,2 Life expectancy - years 3,4,5 Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population aged under 75 6 Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population aged 10 and over 7 Crude rate per 100,000 population 8 Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population 9 Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population aged 65 and over 10 Proportion - % of cancers diagnosed at stage 1 or 2 11 Proportion - % recorded diagnosis of diabetes as a proportion of the estimated number with diabetes 12 Proportion - % recorded diagnosis of dementia as a proportion of the estimated number with dementia 13 Crude rate per 100,000 population aged under 18 14 Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population 15,16,17 Proportion 18 Crude rate per 1,000 females aged 15 to 17 19,20 Proportion 21 Crude rate per 1,000 live births 22 Proportion 23 Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2015 score 24 Proportion 25,26 Slope index of inequality 27 Proportion 28 Mean average across 8 qualifications 29 Proportion 30 Crude rate per 1,000 households 31 Directly age-standardised rate per 100,000 population 32 Ratio of excess winter deaths to average of non-winter deaths 33 Crude rate per 100,000 population aged 15 to 64 (excluding Chlamydia) 34 Crude rate per 100,000 population

symbols Data note
* Value compared to a goal (see below)
~ Aggregated from all known lower geography values

Thresholds for indicators that are compared against a goal

Indicator Name Green Amber Red
12 Estimated dementia diagnosis rate (aged 65 and over) >= 66.7% (significantly) similar to 66.7% < 66.7% (significantly)

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