Condition of Nottinghamshire - Social care and health

2) Social Care and Health

There are ten indicators under the above priority eight of which are also available at ward level and all of these eight have been mapped. This compares with 10 indicators under the Social Cohesion priority in the previous edition. Due to the availability of data at ward level under this priority, each District has 2 pages of statistics giving rates and rankings for both districts and the wards within them.

For 8 of the 10 indicators under this priority Mansfield records the worst figures out of all county districts. Conversely, Rushcliffe has the best figures under 8 indicators. The second most needy district in terms of Income Support and Poverty, on Children in Need and Disabled in Need measures is Ashfield.

Regional and national comparisons have been given for several indicators including Low Birth Weight Babies and Lone Parents on Income Support and these show that under the former, the county has a lower rate than that for the East Midlands and the UK but for the latter records comparable figures.

County-wide Poverty rates (measured by eligibility for Free School Meals) have fallen slightly since 1999; county rates are better than national ones but markedly worse than the regional figures. Comparative performance under 8 of the Social Care and Health indicators are most easily understood on a county-wide basis through the appropriate maps. The map for Low Birth Weight Babies ( Map S1), shows no geographical pattern whilst the map showing Income Support recipients ( Map S2), shows a concentration of areas with high numbers of claimants in Mansfield and Ashfield. The map showing Lone Parent Income Support claimants ( Map S3) shows a very dispersed pattern with all districts having wards with high rates. The more rural areas of east Nottinghamshire have far fewer recipients.

The Elderly in Need map ( S4), shows concentrations of high rates in West Bassetlaw and Retford and parts of Mansfield with isolated pockets in Rushcliffe. The Disabled in Need map ( S5), shows a heavy concentration of need in Mansfield and Ashfield wards. The Children in Need map ( S6), shows a concentration in the north west of the county although several wards in Newark and its hinterland and in Gedling and Broxtowe also stand out. The Child Protection map ( S7) shows a concentration of high rates of Sect 47 Enquiries in northwest Nottinghamshire.

The table giving Mortality rates shows high rates in Ashfield and Bassetlaw; the ward breakdown shows particularly high figures in Blyth and Worksop North West, in Beeston North West, Bestwood Park, Conway and Lambley in Gedling and Ash Lea and Wolds in Rushcliffe. The associated map ( S8) however shows a very distributed picture with no geographical concentrations.

Housing Stress rates (measured by relative length of waiting lists for council housing), show an unusual pattern when compared to other indicators, with Bassetlaw and Rushcliffe recording far higher levels than other districts.

It should be noted that in all of the above mentioned maps, the 'better' and 'worse' categories mark significant variations which can be more closely understood by examination of the details contained in the tables. The Low Birth Weight Babies tables for example shows that several Rushcliffe wards record no low birth weight babies born between 1997 and 1999, whilst the highest rates in the county are found in several Newark & Sherwood wards.