Public health data and insight | London Borough of Bexley

Getting healthy and staying healthy is Bexley's big challenge

An overview of the health of Bexley’s population, and the Public Health services available in Bexley

Public health is about helping people and communities to stay healthy and protecting them from threats to their health. Sometimes public health activities involve helping individuals, at other times they involve dealing with wider factors that have an impact on the health of many people.

Public health at the council commission different services, including health visiting and school nursing; stop smoking; weight management; substance misuse and sexual health services.

Public Health also produces a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) on a variety of topics. The JSNA identifies the health and wellbeing needs and inequalities of our local population and informs future service planning. This is an ongoing process that involves identifying the present and future health needs of the local population. They often include wider determinants of health, such as education, housing and employment. View Bexley’s JSNA.

This page uses indicators from the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF). The PHOF displays a high-level overview of indicators relating to health and wider determinants of health that local authorities and the health system can use as a benchmark to compare themselves with other similar areas and over time. The data is the most recent figures on the Public Health Profiles and are sourced below. Learn more about the Public Health Outcomes Framework.

Physical health¹

Men are healthier for longer - male healthy life expectancy is 64.2 years

male standard life expectancy age is 79.9 years

Women live longer than men - female standard life expectancy age is 83.2 years

female healthy life expectancy age is 63.8 years

Overweight and obesity²

Maintaining a healthy weight is important to increase life expectancy and reduce the chance of developing serious diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.

In 2022/23:

64.2% of adult, residents were overweight - the fourth highest number of overweight adults in London but lower than the national figure

In 2023/24:

21.3% of reception age children were overweight, which was higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure

36.5% of Year 6 children were overweight, which was lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure

The Bexley vision for tackling obesity is to create a local environment that supports everyone to have a healthy weight, to halt the rise of excess weight among children and adults and create a downward trajectory.

Learn more about Bexley’s strategy for tackling obesity
Learn more about how we help our residents manage their weight

Key health figures in Bexley

In 2023/24:

8.3% of residents over the age of 17 had diabetes which was higher than London and England³
1.6% of residents had a stroke, the highest in London but lower than the national figure⁴
3.6% of residents over the age of 18 had chronic kidney disease, the 7th highest in London but lower than the national figure⁵
2.5% of all residents had coronary heart disease, the 3rd highest in London but lower than the national figure⁶
0.8% of residents over the age of 16 had rheumatoid arthritis, the 3rd highest in London but the same as England⁷
0.7% of residents over the age of 50 had osteoporosis, which was higher than London and lower than England⁸
14.7% of all residents had hypertension, the highest in London but slightly lower than the national figure⁹

Disabilities¹⁰

In 2021:

there were 14.6% of residents who reported that they had a disability as defined by the Equalities Act
29.3% of households in Bexley reported that they had at least one person living there with an illness or disability

Learning disabilities¹¹

In 2023/24:

0.5% of residents have a learning disability, which was the same as the London figure and lower than the national figure
81% of adults with a learning disability were living on their own or with family¹²

In 2020 per 1,000 children:

11.3 had learning difficulties known to schools, which was the lowest figure in London and lower than the national figure
7.9 had moderate learning difficulties known to schools, lower than the London and national figures
2.8 had severe learning difficulties known to schools, lower than the London and national figures
0.68 had profound and multiple learning difficulties known to schools, lower than the London and national figures

Learn more about Disability and Learning Disability on Adult Social Care

Sexual health¹³

From 2021 to 23:

47.4% of HIV diagnoses were late diagnoses, which is higher than the London and national figures

In 2023:

Just under 1 in 500 people aged between 15 and 59 had diagnosed HIV, 3rd lowest in London and lower than England
Less than 1 in 11,000 people aged 15+ were newly diagnosed with HIV, 3rd lowest in London and lower than England. HIV testing coverage was at 73.3%, which is higher than the London and national figures
21.6 abortions per 1,000 people, which was higher than London and England

In 2024, for every 100,000 people there were:¹⁴

4,440.4 tests for sexually transmitted diseases (excluding chlamydia for under 25-year-olds), this was the 6th lowest in London but higher than England
395 new diagnoses of a sexually transmitted disease (excluding chlamydia for under 25-year-olds), this was the 2nd lowest in London and lower than the national figure
238 were diagnosed with chlamydia, which was the 5th lowest in London and lower than England
8.0 were diagnosed with syphilis, lowest in London and lower than England
103 were diagnosed with gonorrhoea, lower than both the London and national figures
36.7 were diagnosed with genital herpes, lowest in London and lower than England
41.9 were diagnosed with genital warts, lower than the London and national figures

Learn more about Bexley’s Sexual Health services

Smoking¹⁵

smokers had set a quit date, and 1,133 smokers had successfully quit at 4 weeks, lower than the London and national figures

In 2023:

7.6% of adults 18+ are current smokers, lower than the London and national figures

In 2022/23:

23.8% of adults 18+ with a long-term mental health condition were current smokers, lower than London and England
537 smokers had set a quit date, and 300 smokers had successfully quit at 4 weeks, a success rate of 55.9% which has been consistent with the previous ten years

Learn more about Bexley’s Stop Smoking services

Substance misuse¹⁶

In 2023:

37 per 100,000 people died due to alcohol-related causes, higher than the London average but lower than England. This has been increasing over time

In 2023/24:

there were 1,617 admission episodes per 100,000 population for alcohol-related conditions, lower than the London and national figures
there were 483 admissions per 100,000 for alcohol specific conditions
there were 360 people in treatment at specialist alcohol misuse services

Learn more about Bexley’s substance misuse services

NHS Health Checks¹⁷

The NHS Health Check is a health check-up for adults in England aged 40 to 74. It's designed to spot early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes or dementia. Find out about eligibility for a health check.

Over 2020/21 to 2024/25:

57.7% of people eligible for a health check were invited to receive one, which was lower than the London and national figures
28% of all 40 to 74 year olds received a health check, which was lower than the London and national figures
48.5% of people took up the invite of a health check, which was higher than the London and national figures

Learn more about getting an NHS health check.

Health Protection¹⁸

This is the protection of the population through preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through things like vaccinations.

In 2023/24:

37.6% of at-risk people had a flu vaccine, which was higher than London but lower than England
73.5% of people aged 65 or over had a flu vaccine, which was higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure
66.5% of the population had a PPV (pneumococcal) vaccine, which was lower than the London and national figures. 82.9% of children aged 5 years old had two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, which was the 2nd highest in London but lower than England
86.4% children aged 2 years old had a Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) / MenC (meningitis C) vaccine, which was higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure
91.5% of children aged 1-year-old had the Dtap/IPV/Hib (Diptheria, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, polio, tetanus, whooping cough) vaccine, which was 4th highest in London figure and higher than England

Health Inequalities^{19 20}

There are differences in health across the population, and between different groups within society. These conditions are impacted by where we are born, grow, live, work and age. This affects our mental health, physical health and well‐being.

In 2022/23:

12.4% children (under 16) were in relative low-income families, this is lower than the England and London figures
the gap in the employment rate between those with a long-term health condition and the overall employment rate was 8.6, making Bexley 12th in London for the smallest gap and better than the national figure
the gap in employment rate between those with a learning disability and the overall employment rate was 67.4, making Bexley 8th in London for the smallest gap and better than the national figure
the gap in employment rate between those in contact with secondary mental health services and the overall employment rate was 69.6, similar to London and England

Further information on health inequalities can be found in the Bexley JSNA

Sources

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