Health and Wellbeing

Welcome to our section on health and wellbeing.   It includes the latest official profiles for various aspects of health, as well as links to the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) section and a range of indicators mapped on INFORM Somerset.

The site also features a range of Health Profiles, published annually by the Public Health Observatories in England. These provide a snapshot of the health of a local population and highlight potential problems through comparison with regional and national averages. Most profiles are available at county and district level, while those with a more specialised focus are available only for Somerset. 

We also produce a series of briefing papers on topical issues such as child poverty and life expectancy.

In summary:-

• In general, crude prevalence rates for most chronic conditions have risen over the past year but this can partly be explained by the increasing elderly population.
• Life expectancy at birth continues to rise for both males and females although inequalities persist between the most and least deprived areas.
• Screening rates for breast cancer (for women aged 53-64), cervical and bowel cancer are generally higher across Somerset compared to regional and national rates. However, cancer survival rates in Somerset are worse than the national average.
• Obesity levels in the county have risen in recent years although, more encouragingly, the numbers of people reporting doing a recommended amount of physical activity has also increased .
• Admissions for alcohol-specific conditions have increased  in the last few years at a faster rate than nationally.
• The self-reported personal wellbeing ratings were stable in Somerset in 2015/16, albeit slightly better than in the UK generally.

 For more details of health and wellbeing issues facing Somerset, and supporting information, please go to the JSNA page.

Somerset Health Services in Numbers

• 1 Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)
• 71 GP practices
• 2 NHS Hospital Trusts (Musgrove Park, Taunton and Yeovil)
• 12 NHS community hospitals
• 103 pharmacies
• 75 NHS opticians
• 81 NHS dentists
• 68 Nursing/Care homes