Local Authority Health Profiles for England are located at:
http://194.116.175.130/index.php
Local Authority Health Profiles are designed to show the
health of people in local authorities across England. These
cover all but two of the 388 local authorities, including
county councils, district councils, unitary councils and
London boroughs. City of London and Isles of Scilly are not
covered due to data limitations. These are the first local
authority Health Profiles covering the whole of England.
They have been produced by Public Health Observatories and
will be updated every year.
These Health Profiles can be used by local authorities and
the health service to highlight the health issues for their
local authority area and to compare them with other areas.
The profiles are designed to show where there are important
problems with health or health inequalities. The profiles
can be used with other local information, such as the Audit
Commission's Area Profiles, to target action to improve the
health of local people.
About Health Profiles
“Health data are essential for monitoring the health of the
population and for evaluating the effects of health
interventions. Yet the information collected nationally is
often poor and there is no regular mechanism by which a PCT
or LA can gather reliable information on its own
population.” Wanless (2004).
Background
In England there are at least 24 different sets of health
indicators and databases but no consistent countrywide
health profiles. The government white paper “Choosing
Health: Making Healthy Choices Easier” stated: ‘Public
Health Observatories will produce reports designed for local
communities at local authority level which will support
Directors of Public Health in promoting health in their
area. The first of these reports will be published in 2006
and we will also publish the first national report in that
year.’
Health Profiles
The Association of Public Health Observatories was
commissioned by the Department of Health Public Health
Information and Intelligence Task Force to produce Health
Profiles. A profile has been produced for all but 2 of the
388 local authorities in England (County, District, Unitary
and London Borough). The White Paper also included the
commitment to publish a national report in 2006. The core
indicators for both of these projects will be aligned.
The aims of the profiles are:
* To provide a consistent, concise, comparable and
balanced overview of the population’s health that informs
local needs assessment, policy, planning, performance
management, surveillance and practice.
* To be a distillate of the absolutely key, most useful
(currently available) indicators (with a reference to new
data/indicators and unavailable data/indicators).
* To be primarily of use to joint efforts between local
government and the health service to improve health and
reduce health inequalities, but ultimately to empower the
wider community
* The local authority Health Profiles for England were
produced in April 2006. The profiles are available in both
web based (pdf) and hard copy reports. The audience includes
healthcare and public health professionals and local
authority members and officers. The profiles describe the
health of the local population and enable comparison local,
regionally and nationally as well as over time. It is hoped
that they will be used for action planning by local
strategic partnerships.
Indicator set
The indicators in the Health Profiles had to be those which
were available on a consistent basis for all but 2 of the
388 local authorities in England. The criteria for choosing
the indicators included:
* Important impact on the health of the population
* Support for local government and NHS management
frameworks
* Is valid, i.e. does it measure what it purports to
measure
* Is primarily based on existing indicators (although
crucial to highlight non-existent and new data where important)
* Is primarily available at Local Authority level
(although sub-LA data will be explored)
* Is amenable to meaningful comparison over time, place,
person
* Can be communicated easily to a wide audience
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