Life expectancy is generally high across the South of England and continues to improve year-on-year.  Early deaths from cancer, heart disease and stroke are low and continue to fall.  The health of children living in the region is generally better than the England average.

Whilst we celebrate these improvements and the advances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, we know that the population is growing and ageing, with the proportion aged 85+ increasing significantly.  This demographic challenge is placing significant demands on health and social care. We also continue to fight the health problems resulting from smoking, obesity and overweight and alcohol misuse.

Across the South of England there are many programmes in place, often with partners in local authorities and other sectors, to:

• reduce health inequalities and problems associated with smoking, obesity and alcohol
• improve the sexual health of the population, particularly in terms of reducing unwanted teenage pregnancy rates and sexually transmitted diseases
• improve the uptake of screening programmes and immunisation rates of vulnerable people.
• A snapshot of the public’s health within the South of England

In 2010: 

• The population of the South of England is approximately 14.2 million people, around 26% of the population of England
• The average male life expectancy was 79.3 years, higher than the England value (78.3)
• The average female life expectancy was 83.3 years, higher than the England value (82.3)
• Reported smoking as a percentage of those aged 16 years or over was 16.0%, lower than the England value (18.7%)
• The prevalence of obese children in year 6 was 16.3%, lower than the value for England (18.7%)
• Average alcohol-attributable admissions per 100,000 population were 1450.7, lower than the England value (1742.8), but is on the increase
• The average teenage conception rate was 38.2 per 1,000 females aged 15-17 years, lower than the England value (40.2)
• The rate of acute sexually transmitted infection diagnoses was 644.1 per 100,000 population, lower than the England value (778.9).

For more details of public health needs and performance in NHS South of England click here

New arrangements for public health

In 2010, the Department of Health set out changes to the public health system as part of the Health and Social Care White Paper. These included the creation of a national public health service and the transfer of health improvement responsibilities from Primary Care Trusts to local authorities.

NHS South of England is working with local authorities and Public Health England to achieve these reforms to ensure that they deliver the best outcomes for the population of the South of England.

In summary the reforms will see:

• Local authorities taking the lead for improving health and coordinating local programmes to protect the public’s health and wellbeing, ensuring local authority services effectively promote population health. They will focus on local priorities, finding solutions that are meaningful to local needs, supported by expert professional local leadership.
• A new executive agency, Public Health England, will work with partners to provide evidence and intelligence, and the cost-benefit analysis that will enable local government, the NHS, and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, among others to:
• invest effectively in prevention and health promotion
• protect the public by providing a comprehensive range of health protection services
• commission and deliver safe and effective healthcare services and public health programmes across the life course
• ensure interventions and services meet the needs of different groups in society, promote  equality of opportunity and reduce inequalities.

Fact sheets and other details about the reforms to public health can be found at http://healthandcare.dh.gov.uk/public-health-system

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