Residents living in the poorest areas of Nottingham are dying 12 years earlier than those in the most affluent areas, according to council figures.
Nottingham has been ranked as the 11th most deprived area in the country, with some neighbourhoods amongst the 10 per cent most deprived areas in England.
Tabacco use is the leading cause of death and disability across Nottingham, followed by high-body mass index, which refers to residents suffering with weight problems.
Female life expectancy in Nottingham has been described as “significantly lower” than the England average over the last decade and has shown “a downward trend.”
Nottingham City Council said the ongoing Covid pandemic has “exacerbated those long-standing inequalities in income, health and opportunity in Nottingham.”
A new Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWBS) is now set to be created to find out the health and wellbeing needs of communities in Nottingham and how to improve them.
Other causes of death and disability in Nottingham include diabetes, poor diets, high blood pressure, as well as alcohol and drug use.
At a Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on Wednesday, November 24, discussions will be had on how to bridge the gap and “increase healthy life expectancy in Nottingham” and make the city one of “the healthiest big cities”.
Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS), which is made up of councils, the NHS, and the voluntary sector, said there needs to be more decision making made by people who use health services.
“Services that are shaped by individuals who use them respond better to people’s needs and result in positive outcomes,” the ICS states.
A report prepared for the meeting says: “The data show that life expectancy in Nottingham is lower than the England average, but also that the low healthy life expectancy (2nd lowest in England for females and 3rd lowest in England for males) means that Nottingham residents are likely to spend a much greater proportion of their lives in poor health.
“The JHWBS needs to identify and address the driving factors of these levels of death and disability in Nottingham.
“The leading causes of death and disability in Nottingham have remained unchanged since the publication of the previous JHWBS in 2016, with tobacco use identified as the leading cause.”
The report also says health and wellbeing has been “heavily impacted” by the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years.
“This has highlighted and further exacerbated the health inequalities which we already knew to exist in Nottingham.”
Mental and physical health will be addressed as part of the new strategy and will be focused on “delivering outcomes that make a tangible difference to the lives of local people.”
The most recent data on Healthy Life Expectancy at birth (2016-18) was published in February 2020.
For males in Nottingham City, the Healthy Life Expectancy is 57.7 years. This is significantly lower than England value of 63.4 years.
The female healthy life expectancy at birth is 54.2 years for Nottingham. The Nottingham value has been significantly lower than the England value over the last decade and has shown a downward trend.
Nottingham ranks lowest of the eight cities for both sexes and has markedly lower healthy life expectancy for females, the report states.
Cities it has been compared to include Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
Levels of deprivation over the last four years – 2015 to 2019 – for Nottingham shows some improvement relative to other parts of the county.
Areas labelled as becoming ‘more deprived’ include parts of Bulwell and Bulwell Forest, parts of Radford and Hyson Green and parts of The Dales and Mapperley.
Areas described as ‘less deprived’ include Wollaton, parts of Lenton, Lean Valley, parts of Bilborough and Aspley.
The new strategy to improve the health of the city is set to be in place by April 2022.