Health Statistics

Ribble Valley Health Profile 2011

In summary

For Ribble Valley, 16 out of 32 indicators were significantly better than the national average, with three indicators reported as being significantly worse than the national average.

Men can expect to live 79.2 years in Ribble Valley - no change to the 2009 figure. This is significantly better than the national average.  Female life expectancy is 82.8 years. For women this is longer than the national average.

It is estimated that 32.7% of adults in Ribble Valley have increased or higher risk drinking, which is significantly worse than the national average. In addition, the number of hospital stays related to alcohol has increased dramatically over the years, as in all areas across the country, rising from 126.8 in 2007  to 1,597 per 100,000 population. However, this remains much lower than the national average.

Best and worst health indicators (comparing 2011 to 2010)

Community-related indicators remain significantly better than the national average. These include indicators for income deprivation which remains at 0%, proportion of children in poverty at 5.7%, homelessness which has fallen from 0.53 to 0.21 per 1,000 households, and GCSE achievement (five grades A*-C) has  fallen from 68.8% to 65.5%, but remains well above national average.  Long term unemployment is at 1.2% significantly better than the national average of 6.2%.

When looking at adult health and lifestyle, the picture is generally okay. The number of adults who smoke has risen from 15.9 to 18.5%, but is lower than the national average of 21.2%. In addition, the number of physically active adults has decreased by 1.4%, but is still better than the national average.The level of obesity in adults is 21.4%, which is significantly lower than the national average of 24.2%

Indicators relating to disease and poor health reveal a positive outlook for the borough. The number of drugs misuse cases has fallen from 5.7 per 1,000 population to 4.3.  However, the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes has risen by 0.8% in the last year.  Despite this, rates remain significantly better than national average.

When looking at life expectancy and causes of death, the borough performs generally better than its neighbours and the nation as a whole.  Early deaths from heart disease and stroke have decreased compared with last year, as have deaths from smoking. However, the number of deaths from cancer has risen.  The number of infant deaths has remained at 1.0 per 1,000 live births.  However, the number of road injuries and deaths has increased significantly, rising from 80.7 to 86.9 per 100,000 population. This indicator is now significantly worse than the average for England.

The teenage pregnancy rate (under 18) has decreased for the first time in four years, now standing at 23.3 per 1,000 females, remaining significantly better than the national average.

A number of indicators relating to children's health have shown some poor results in the borough, with 20.1% of mothers smoking during pregnancy compared with the national average of 14%.  Furthermore, the percentage of mothers initiating breast feeding remains worse than the national average, despite an increase of 1.6% in the last year.

Only 52.6% of children receive 3 hours or more of school sports activities per week, which is significantly worse than the national average and a decrease of 1.5% from 2010.  In addition, the number of obese children has risen by 5.3% in the last year.

The full Health Profile for Ribble Valley for 2011