A brief roundup of HSCIC deprivation stories
I thought I’d do a summary of some different releases from HSCIC (Health and Social Care Information Centre) which gathers data from across the NHS. What’s notable is the breadth of different issues as the IMD is used to analyse relationships between health and deprivation across the board.
‘Maternity: Twice as many hospital deliveries to women living in the most deprived areas of England’
As the title suggests the HSCIC found the rate of hospital deliveries by women from the most deprived decile (37.2 per 1000 pop.) was twice as high as that of women from the least deprived decile (18.6 per 1000 pop.)
They also found that teen pregnancy rates remain strongly linked to deprivation with delivery rates at 34.1 per 1000 teenage girls in the most deprived decile and 4.1 per 1000 teenage girls in the least deprived decile. However this is a significant reduction of inequalities since 2007-8 where rates were 47.7 and 4.4 respectively.
New analysis shows current picture of diseases which were widespread in the Victorian era
This is a profile of diseases that were common in the Victorian era such as gout, tuberculosis, whooping cough, measles and malnutrition. These varied by deprivation with the strongest association noticeable with TB where the rate of admissions in the most deprived decile was 16.5 (per 100,000) and 1.4 in the least deprived. Gout also showed a relationship with a rate of 13.5 in the most deprived areas and 8.3 in the least deprived. Cases of malnutrition also showed a link, with the least deprived areas having a rate of 0.7 and the most deprived three times higher at 2.1. However the total number of malnutrition cases recorded was quite low at just 602.
NHS Outcomes Framework – England, February 2015
This quarterly report provides a national overview of results and health outcomes through the NHS, and is therefore a key accountability mechanism. Here are some figures on under 75 mortality rates (premature deaths) for major causes of death, comparable by most and least deprived (data used is from 2013):
- Respiratory disease. Under 75 mortality rate for the most deprived decile was 80.4 (per 100,000 population) while for the least deprived decile it was just 13.5. Moreover the gap between most and least deprived has actually increased since 2009 as rates for the most deprived increased by 5.4% while decreasing by 8.2% for the least deprived.
- Liver disease. Under 75 mortality rate for the most deprived was 37.1 and 9.2 for the least deprived. Here the gap is being reduced however as rates among the most deprived decreased by 7.5% since 2011 and rates among the least deprived increased by 4.5% from 2009.
- Cancer. The most deprived experienced a rate of 208.4 while the least deprived had almost half that at 107.5. This represents a gap in mortality rate of 100.9 deaths per 100,000 pop.), a slight narrowing in inequality from 2009 when the gap was 105.8.
Hospital admissions for sleep disorders highest in young children
Children aged 4 and under were the biggest age group admitted to hospital for sleep disorders (the most common diagnosis being sleep apnea). The report notes that “The rate of admissions for sleep disorders among children aged 0 to 14 was double among the most deprived areas of England as among the least deprived” although this relationship ceased to be visible among those aged 15 and over.
The report notes that the majority of A&E attendances occur between ‘working hours’ of the day. It also finds that in the 11 months to February 2013 “The most deprived 10 per cent of society accounted for more than double the number of attendances (14.4 per cent, or 2.4 million) compared to the least deprived 10 per cent (6.7 per cent, or 1.1 million)”
Up to 24,000 people with diabetes suffer an avoidable death in England each year
A report on diabetes mortality found that there may be up to 24,000 preventable deaths of diabetes patients, noting that “poor management of a patient’s condition” can increase the risks of such deaths. It notes a strong link between increased diabetes and mortality, finding that under 65s from the most deprived areas have twice the death rates of those from the least deprived areas.