JSNA Living Well

Preventable Death

The basic concept of preventable mortality is that deaths are considered preventable if, in the light of the understanding of the determinants of health at the time of death, all or most deaths from the underlying cause could potentially be avoided by public health interventions in the broadest sense.

Preventable mortality overlaps with, but is not the same as ‘amenable’ mortality, which includes causes of deaths which could potentially be avoided through good quality healthcare. Preventable mortality and amenable mortality are the two components of ‘avoidable’ mortality, as defined by the Office for National Statistics in April 2012.

Preventable deaths for specific causes will be explored in their specific topic page, this page will explore the overall levels of preventable death in Hartlepool.

After 11 years of decline in the level of preventable death in Hartlepool, there has been a year on year increase for the last 4 years. This has taken Hartlepool from a low of 223.2 per 100,000 in 2011-13, up to 251.9 deaths per 100,000 in 2015-17. The current rate is back up to levels not seen since 2009-11.

Against the national average Hartlepool has been statistically worse for the entirety of the 15 year reporting period, however against the north east average Hartlepool had moved into a position of statistical similarity in 2006-08 and maintained this until 2013-15, a period of 8 years, before falling back into statistical inferiority for the last two years. The gap between Hartlepool and the England average is at a 10 year high of 70.4 per 100,000, and against the north east the gap is at an 11 year high of 28.5 per 100,000. Hartlepool’s rate of 251.9 per 100,000 is the 2nd highest in the north east region and the fifth highest of its CIPFA nearest neighbours.

 

 

Looking just at the rate of preventable death for males in Hartlepool, there is a similar pattern to Hartlepool as a whole.

 

 

Here again there has been an increase in the rate in the recent past, which had been preceded by a general decline over a larger period.

Looking just at female preventable death in Hartlepool however, show a very different trend.

 

 

The preventable mortality rate for females in Hartlepool has remained fairly stable across the last 8 years, staying within a 12 point range across this period, and with the 2015-17 figure being only 0.3 per 100,000 lower than the 2008-10 figure.