People living in North Tyneside and Northumberland can now compare the health of people in their neighbourhoods - and health authorities can better target resources to help those who need it most.
This is because a new first-of-its-kind Local Health Index has been launched, which maps a wide range of health-related factors - from how long it takes to drive to a GP to the prevalence of diabetes - and works out a score showing how any given area compares to the national average. Professor Chris Whitty - England's chief medical officer - is among those supporting the new tool.
This has been produced by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust which has been working with the Office for National Statistics and Northumberland and North Tyneside councils on the project. The Index maps how healthy areas roughly the size of postcodes are. Using it, people living in Blyth's Cowpen area can - for example - see how levels of mental ill health compare to people living minutes away.
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Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard - a public health expert who leads the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust's Health Improvement Programme Board - said this data was already being used to make sure healthcare responds to the needs of people across the area covered. The hope is eventually to roll out local versions of the Index across the country.
Dr Pearson-Stuttard told ChronicleLive that the Index showed "the art of the possible" - and explained that it "makes clear the large variations in health and the drivers of health across the Northumbria population". The "healthiest" areas according to the figures are Darras Hall and Whitley Sands - both of which have Health Index scores of 108.
The national average is 100 and the worst-off areas - in Blyth - have scores of just 92. Dr Pearson-Stuttard said: "Generating data about the health of our population at very small areas, that groups residents into 328 small areas of 1,500 people, allows us to see the variation in health need, and the inequalities in the drivers of health, in much greater detail than before."
He explained that this level of detail opened up new ways of targeting healthcare. He added: "We know there are challenges within smaller areas - how we can see this being used even now is we can use these indicators to see just how big these variations from one area to another. For example if you're looking at high blood pressure You can tailor your approach.
"You can spot how areas with much higher rates of raised blood pressure are more likely to lead to heart attacks or stroke. You can move from a one-size fits all approach and really target specific groups of patients." He said that already work was using the data to investigate the barriers people living in more deprived or rural areas have found accessing cervical screening tests, and to identify at-risk groups for lung cancer.
The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust's chief executive Sir James Mackey also welcomed the Index- saying it would allow medics to have "informed and real-time discussions about health".
In a joint statement, the directors of public health for North Tyneside and Northumberland, Wendy Burke and Liz Morgan, said the Index would "provide a more in depth understanding" of variations in health. They added: "We are determined to narrow the gap in inequalities across the borough and our county.
"We are working hard with our partners to tackle health and prosperity disparities, ensuing we break the link between people’s background and their prospects for a healthy, thriving and happy life."
Prof Chris Whitty added: "Data that allow us to track progress in improving health at national, regional and local levels are very important in improving health. By gathering information on health challenges, we are better placed to respond to them. Then data allow us to see whether interventions have worked, and alter, end or extend them.
“We know there is a stark variation in health across the country when comparing different areas and more granular data will better equip health partners to work together to improve health for everybody, now and in the longer term. I strongly support efforts to provide more detail across a wide range of healthcare indicators."
The Northumbria Health Index is available at https://northumbriahealthindex.lcp.uk.com/
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