Healthy life expectancy fall to be discussed

The reason for Bradford's declining HLE is partially down to high levels of smoking and alcohol consumption

The healthy life expectancy (HLE) of people in Bradford has fallen to as low as 57 years for men, according to research.

The reasons for the drop, about three years for both men and women, are due to things such as the Covid pandemic and higher than average smoking and alcohol consumption rates in the district, Bradford Council said.

Council officials called the data "concerning" as it is up to four years below the national average HLE.

The findings and how to improve people's health will be discussed at a council meeting later.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the national healthy life expectancy is 61.5 years for men and 61.9 years for women.

For Bradford it is currently 57.5 years for men, down from 60.9 in 2017, and 58.1 years for women, down from 61.3 in 2017.

While the report found although some areas have improved in recent years, including reducing school absence rates and improving Key Stage 2 reading, writing and maths levels, the drop in healthy life expectancy is "noticeable".

The report said: "HLE indicates the number of years people can expect to live in good health, but this is shaped by changing health trends and migration.

"Crucially, HLE helps in interpreting wider health indicators and identifying what influences local health outcomes."

It added: "Given this context, the district's lower healthy life expectancy for both males and females may be due to several factors after steady gains from 2013–2019, when mortality rates worsened from 2020."

'Concerning'

As well as the area's smoking and alcohol levels, Bradford has higher obesity rates and food insecurity than the national average, alongside more fast food outlets.

Another reason for the lower HLE is that a larger proportion of adults in Bradford are inactive compared to England overall, which also contributes to poorer health outcomes.

Air pollution and health inequality, including access to services, were also cited as reasons in the report.

Referring to how the city council hopes to combat the falling healthy life expectancy, the report said: "The council's public health team and partners are using the Living Well Programme which focuses on tackling obesity, smoking, inactivity and poor wellbeing using evidence-based methods to drive long-term improvement across the district."

GPs are also using screening tools to refer patients to New Vision Bradford (NVB) for treatment or to the DrinkCoach app for lower-risk cases.

The report added: "Self-referral is also available."

Bradford Council's executive will also consider how the council has performed against targets for other issues such as housing, public health and education performance.

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