Contents

Public Health

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.

As part of the JSNA, a recently launched data observatory for Bexley will automatically provide the latest available data in charts and maps: bexleyjsna.info.

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 health

Men's physical health

Men are healthier for longer - male healthy life expectancy is 66.5 years

  • male standard life expectancy age is 80.1 years
  • men live without disability for longer than women - the male disability-free life expectancy age is 66.1 years
women's physical health

Women live longer than men - female standard life expectancy age is 84.1 years

  • female healthy life expectancy age is 61.8 years
  • female disability-free life expectancy age is 59.8 years

Obesity

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 2019/20:

69%of adult, residents were overweight - the highest number of overweight adults in London and higher than the national figure

23% of reception age children were overweight, which was higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure

37% 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 by 2025.

Key health figures in Bexley

In 2019/20:

  • 7.2% of residents over the age of 17 had diabetes which was higher than London and national figures
  • 1.6% of residents had a stroke, the highest figure in London but lower than the national figure
  • 3% of residents over the age of 18 had chronic kidney disease, the 6th highest figure in London but lower than the national figure
  • 2.6% of all residents had coronary heart disease, the 4th highest in London but lower than the national figure
  • 0.8% of residents over the age of 16 had rheumatoid arthritis, the 2nd highest in London but lower than the national figure
  • 0.4% of residents over the age of 50 had osteoporosis, which was lower than both the London and national figure
  • 13.7% of all residents had hypertension, the 3rd highest in London but lower than the national figure

Disabilities

In 2019:

  • there were 18.8% of residents aged 16 to 64 who had a disability that affected their activities or had a work-limiting disability
  • 37.8% of households in Bexley reported that they had at least one person living there with an illness or disability
  • the most frequently mentioned disabilities are ‘Long-standing health conditions’ (7.5%), and ‘Physical mobility/impairment’ (4.9%)
  • there is an estimated 3.1% of the population living with sight loss and it is estimated that 21% of adult residents living with hearing loss

Learning disabilities

Learning disabilities

In 2019/20:

  • 0.4% of residents have a learning disability, which was the same as the London figure and lower than the national figure
  • we had a high level of supported adult residents of working age with a learning disability in paid employment in Bexley (17.7%), making us 2nd highest in London and higher than the national figure

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 health

From 2017 to 19:

  • 33.3% of HIV diagnoses were late diagnoses, which is lower than the London and national figures

In 2019:

  • 49.2 per 1,000 long-acting reversible forms of contraception (excluding injections) were prescribed
  • 2.8 per 1,000 people aged between 15 and 59 had diagnosed HIV, which is lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure
  • 10.5 per 100,000 people aged 15+ were newly diagnosed with HIV, which is lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure
  • HIV testing coverage was at 73.3%, which is higher than the London and national figures
  • 19.9 per 1,000 people had abortions, which was lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure

In 2020 per 100,000 people:

  • 4405.5 were tested for sexually transmitted diseases (excluding chlamydia for under 25-year-olds), this was the 2nd lowest figure in London and lower than the national figure
  • 519 received a new sexually transmitted disease diagnosis (excluding chlamydia for under 25-year-olds), this was the 3rd lowest figure in London and lower than the national figure
  • 194 were diagnosed with chlamydia, which was lower than the London and national figures
  • 14 were diagnosed with syphilis, lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure
  • 107 were diagnosed with gonorrhoea, lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure
  • 26.1 were diagnosed with genital herpes, lower than the London and national figures
  • 54.2 were diagnosed with genital warts, lower than the London figure but higher than the national figure

Learn more about Bexley’s Sexual Health services

Stop smoking

In 2018/19:

  • 4087 smokers had set a quit date, and 2309 smokers had successfully quit at 4 weeks, higher than the London and national figures

In 2019:

  • 14.2% of adults 18+ are current smokers, higher than the London and national figures

In 2019/20:

  • 22.4% of adults 18+ with a long-term mental health condition were current smokers, lower than the London and national figures
  • there were 1664 smoking-attributable hospital admissions, lower than the London and national figures

Learn more about Bexley’s Stop Smoking services

Substance misuse

In 2019:

  • 26.2 per 100,000 people died due to alcohol-related causes, lower than the London and national figures

In 2019/20:

  • there were 1607 admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions, lower than the London and national figures
  • there were 44.2 per 100,000 admission episodes for mental and behavioural disorders due to the use of alcohol
  • there were 1.7 per 1,000 people in treatment at specialist alcohol misuse services, higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure
  • 74.4% of dependent drinkers were not in treatment, lower than the London and national figures

Learn more about Bexley’s substance misuse services

NHS Health Checks

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.

In 2020/21:

  • 0.9% people were invited for a health check, which was lower than the London and national figures
  • 0.8% people received a health check, which was lower than the London and national figures
  • 87.3% people took up the invite of a health check, which was higher than the London and national figures

Please note that these figures have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to pressures placed on GP’s, many were not offering this service and there was no expectation nationally that the Health Check programme be operating at this time. Learn more about getting an NHS health check.

Health Protection

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

In 2019/20:

  • 39.9% of at-risk people had a flu vaccine, which was lower than the London and national figures
  • 67.2% of people aged 65 or over had a flu vaccine, which was higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure
  • 60.9% of the population had a PPV (pneumococcal) vaccine, which was lower than the London and national figures
  • 83.6% of children aged 5 years old had two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, which was higher than the London figure but lower than national figures
  • 85.6% 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
  • 59.1% of children aged 2 years old had the Hepatitis B vaccine
  • 91.9% 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 higher than the London figure but lower than the national figure

Health Inequalities

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 2019/20:

  • 15.8% 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 9.4, making Bexley 11th 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 59.8, making Bexley 5th 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 65.4, making Bexley 10th in London for the smallest gap and better than the national figure

Further information on health inequalities will be added to Bexley JSNA

Covid-19

Data related to Covid-19 changes on a rapid basis, and how Bexley is coping with the pandemic is also changing.

Our Covid-19 public dashboard holds data that is updated weekly on our website, where you can view facts and figures about how Covid-19 is affecting the borough. We also have service updates, resources, support and advice, information on testing and vaccinations, and our Local Outbreak Management Plan available on Coronavirus guidance and support.

The latest guidance for Covid-19 is also changing rapidly. Both the NHS and the UK Government have advice and guidance for you to follow to keep yourself and others safe.

Sources