Southampton’s registered population has reached approximately 250,000, and enjoys health outcomes that broadly mirror the national picture.
Life expectancy is improving steadily, particularly for women, but lags behind the national trend for men.
Birth rate and measures of fertility in the city have increased rapidly over recent years, while population mortality rates continue to fall.
The local health economy invests in a large teaching hospital and regional specialist centre in Southampton, 38 general practices and a large community hospital service that spans Southampton and Portsmouth.
More detail on health improvement can be found in Southampton’s Public Health Reports and the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment.
The PCT commissioning strategy has focussed on improving early years’ services, and optimising life chances from birth onward. The deployment of “Sure Start” centres across the city has provided a sound platform to work with mothers and families to optimise health-related behaviours and to provide the best health protection for young infants. Higher levels of breast feeding, and reduced harm from passive tobacco exposure is one of the main achievements in recent years, resulting in lower infant mortality and reduced low birth weight, despite an increasing workload in maternity services. High levels of tobacco and alcohol use in the city also accounts for a substantial burden of ill health in adults and older people in the city and causes high levels of some cancers and cardiovascular disease.
The Southampton partnership pools resources (money, people and facilities) and has developed health and wellbeing plans that include the local NHS, City Council and Voluntary sector. As the present health service reform plays out over the next two years, we will see resources move from the Primary Care Trust to the national public health service, GP practice commissioners, and a health and wellbeing fund for the new local authority hosted Director of Public Health. Economic recession and government plans to reduce public sector expenditure will also mean a significant reduction in the totality of resources across the Southampton partnership in coming years.
Population health is influenced by wider determinants of health and specific health related behaviours and risks. Future population health outcomes can only be secured if the present obesity epidemic can be halted and damaging health behaviours such as hazardous alcohol consumption and high levels of tobacco use can be reversed. On the wider determinants, poor educational attainment, unemployment, and relative poverty due to low incomes in the city will continue to undermine the health of the population. Both the public and partner agencies need to engage with the health agenda to secure future improvements in health services and population health outcomes.
