New online tool
shows variation in mortality rates and risk factors for heart
disease and stroke across the country
A new tool to help the NHS better treat cardiovascular disease in
every area of the country was launched by the Department of Health
today.
The online tool, compiled by the South East Public Health
Observatory, allows for comparisons across the country in a bid to
drive up standards and better target resources.
The tool has been developed so that local health services can
assess the impact of cardiovascular diseases on their local
populations. It also shows the quality and availability of
services, and where a stronger focus on prevention could improve
outcomes for patients. The NHS will be able to use the detailed
local picture it provides to better understand the burden of
cardiovascular disease and compare it to the England average.
It shows widespread variation in mortality rates from
cardiovascular disease across England, with a higher incidence
amongst people who live in deprived areas.
Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, is
the main cause of death in the UK, causing around a third of all
deaths in England. The tool shows that while overall mortality
rates have improved considerably, variation on indicators, such as
smoking, obesity and diet is still too wide.
The tool is available online and easy to use. Key figures from
this show:
Mortality rates for cardiovascular disease in England, including
heart disease and stroke, have decreased - but this varies from
over 55 per cent in Sunderland, Mid Essex and Hartlepool, to
around 40 per cent in parts of London and the East of
England.Mortality rates from cardiovascular disease are still much
higher amongst people who live in deprived areas and in 2009 were
more than 2.5 times higher compared to those people who live in
the least deprived areas in England.Estimates of adult obesity
vary from around 15 per cent of the population in parts of London
to around 30 per cent in areas such as Stockton-on-Tees and
Hartlepool.Poor diet is widespread in every area with less than 50
per cent of people eating enough fruit and vegetables, falling to
around 20 per cent in parts of the North East.Access and response
times to improve treatment of heart attack has contributed to the
fall in mortality, with people now receiving more active
treatments – such as clot busting drugs or angioplasty - to
increase blood flow to the heart in the early stages of a heart
attack. There is an average time of between one and two hours from
calling for help and receiving these treatments.Most stroke
patients will be admitted to hospital and the death rates from a
stroke within 30 days of that admission vary, from Lewisham and
Hackney with low rates (144 per 1000), to Knowsley and North East
Lincolnshire, with rates twice as high.
Professor Roger Boyle, National Clinical Director for Heart
Disease and Stroke, said:
“These profiles offer a snapshot of where we need to focus
efforts to improve these services. They are a sobering reminder of
the public health challenges around poor diet and obesity. But
different parts of the country can learn from each other too,
which is part of the importance of making this data publicly
available.”
Health Minister Simon Burns said:
“People with long term conditions such as cardiovascular disease
are the biggest users of the NHS, accounting for 50 per cent of GP
appointments and 70 per cent of in patient hospital beds.
“We need to modernise the NHS to drive up standards across the
country and provide these people with the best outcomes possible.
We also need to tackle prevention - it is clear that the old ways
of tackling public health problems have not always delivered the
necessary improvements, and these figures show significant
variation on factors like obesity and healthy diets.
“We are putting in place a public health service - Public Health
England - that will give local people the money and the power to
improve our nation's health. And as part of Change4Life,
we are encouraging people to make simple changes, such as eating
more fruit and vegetables, cutting down on fatty foods and being
more active.”
Dr Max Kammerling, NHS Consultant in Public Health Medicine, from
the South East Public Health Observatory, comments:
“The overall national picture is very positive, with an
established trend of fewer deaths from cardiovascular diseases,
and improved access to, and wider adoption of better treatments.
However, a closer look at the data uncovers hotspots which show
higher mortality rates amongst people who live in
socio-economically deprived areas. The challenge for local health
services will be to continue to direct efforts to reaching those
communities, working with them to reduce the major contributors to
developing cardiovascular diseases, such as smoking, obesity and
poor diet.
“We hope that the cardiovascular profiles will be an invaluable
tool in supporting local health services to understand the impact
of cardiovascular diseases, as well as develop services that
continue to improve health outcomes for their local populations.”
To access the new cardiovascular profiles, please click here http://www.sepho.org.uk/CVDprofiles.aspx.
You can access the interactive atlas feature of the tool at http://www.sepho.org.uk/NationalCVD/atlas/single/atlas.html
Notes to Editors
1. For more information please contact the Department of Health
newsdesk on 0207 210 5221 2. The tool was commissioned by the
Department of Health and compiled by the South East Public Health
Observatory (SEPHO) 3. SEPHO is one of nine regional organisations
providing local agencies, populations and networks with public
health data and information. SEPHO is delivered by Solutions for
Public Health (www.sph.nhs.uk). 4. The Cardiovascular Disease
Profiles for England are an accessible web-based tool. They will
be available from the SEPHO website at 00.01 on March 14th 2010
at: http://www.sepho.org.uk/CVDprofiles.aspx. 5. The profiles are
a set of indicators relating to cardiovascular disease that are
available for every PCT in England. Summary profiles have also
been produced for the heart and stroke networks, collating data
both at a population level across the network, and also providing
comparisons between the relatively small numbers of PCTs that make
up each network. The Profiles include a wide range of indicators,
including: the local population, including measures of deprivation
and the local ethnic mix, levels of smoking, drinking, obesity and
unhealthy eating, levels of disease and of patients with risk
factors presenting to primary care, details of hospital admissions
for a range of cardiovascular disease related causes, measures
which reflect the quality of care for heart disease and stroke
patients, death rates, and how they have changed over time,
variations between areas of affluence and deprivation, expenditure
on local services. 6. When giving high and low rates, the best and
worst five areas have been excluded. This is because extreme
values are often related to some specific local factors and
therefore do not lend themselves to fair comparisons.
Contacts:
Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk