Canley place based profile

Why is this important?

Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are extremely important summary measures of overall population health. The Marmot Review, Fair Society, Healthy Lives, demonstrates clear and significant links between avoidable differences in health outcomes and deprivation, where people experiencing multiple deprivation not only living shorter lives, but spend a greater portion of their shorter lives with a disability or in poor health. As a Marmot city, Coventry has adopted and embedded the principles of Marmot, tackling the social conditions that can lead to health inequalities, and working to improve the areas in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.

What is the local picture? How does it compare?

The life expectancy at birth for residents of Canley is lower than the averages for Coventry overall. In Coventry, health inequalities are evident as areas with higher deprivation levels tend to have lower life expectancy. The table below provides information on life expectancy at birth for females and males in the MSOA area of Canley and Westwood Heath for the period 2016-2020; data is only available to this level, not for neighbourhoods smaller than this. The MSOA covers a wider area than that used for this profile in general, it includes Westwood Heath and other nearby areas, as well as Canley. These additional neighbourhoods are less deprived than Canley; as such life expectancy for the area may be even lower than shown in the tables, with a bigger gap to the city average.

Life expectancy at birth for females is 80.6 years, which is lower than the average for Coventry (82.1 years), and life expectancy at birth for males is 77.5 years, also lower than the average for Coventry (78.1 years). While like for all areas, female life expectancy is longer than for males, the data indicates that life expectancy for females in Canley is relatively low, with a bigger gap with the city average than there is for males.

Table: Life expectancy at birth 2016-2020 by MSOA, the most up to date figures available at local level 

Source: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities 2022, Crown Copyright

Life expectancy is a statistic giving a high-level picture of the health of Coventry residents and should be used with care in understanding likely life spans for people; excess deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic will have a negative impact on life expectancy statistics but this may not have a permanent impact. Whilst this data includes 2020 and the pandemic will have undoubtedly affected mortality statistics, life expectancy increases had already stalled before 2020.

Health inequalities across the city mean that people in more deprived parts of the city not only live shorter lives, but also spend a greater proportion of their shorter lives in poor health. The table presents data on healthy life expectancy at birth, life expectancy at birth, and the window of need for the period 2009-2013 in Canley and Westwood Heath. This is the most recent data available for healthy life expectancy.

Healthy life expectancy is the average number of years people live in good health. For Canley and Westwood Heath residents, females have a healthy life expectancy at birth of 61.7 years, while males have a healthy life expectancy at birth of 60.1 years. These figures are similar to the average for Coventry; if we had a measure just for Canley it would likely be lower.  

The gap between healthy life expectancy and life expectancy is referred to as the ‘window of need’. It is the average number of years that a person can expect to live with poor health, during which they will be likely to need support from the health and care system. The window of need is 20.5 years for females and 16.0 years for males in Canley, compared to Coventry's 20.3 years for females and 16.7 years for males. The fact that healthy life expectancy is similar for males and females, but overall life expectancy is longer for females, means that, on average, females live longer in poor health.

Table: Life expectancy (LE) at birth & healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth 2009-2013 by MSOA*.

Source:  The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Crown Copyright.

*The most up to date figures available at local level for healthy life expectancy, data for LE is presented for the same period to accurately calculate the ‘window of need’. The data for 2016-20 LE in the table above is the best to use to understand LE alone. This is the most up to date data at MSOA level, for more up to date information for Coventry City as a whole please see our Citywide profile

Premature mortality (deaths amongst residents aged under 75 years) rates are higher in Canley than the city overall and national average. The table below provides data on premature mortality, specifically the Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR) for various causes of death for individuals under 75 years old in Canley & Westwood Heath, and Coventry, for the period 2016-2020. The SMR compares the observed number of deaths in a population to the expected number of deaths based on age-specific rates of a standard population, allowing us to compare areas that have different age profiles.  An SMR of 100 indicates the observed deaths are the same as the national average after adjusting for the age profile of the local population. The SMR for deaths from all causes under 75 years is 134.8, indicating deaths are 34.8% higher than the national average and higher than Coventry's SMR of 116.9. Looking at specific causes, premature mortality rates are higher than the city average for all. For deaths from all cancers to amongst people aged under 75 years, the SMR is 137.4, for deaths from circulatory diseases it is 129.1, and for deaths from causes considered preventable it is 147.4.

Table: Premature mortality rates (deaths aged under 75) by major causes 2016-2020, by MSOA

Source: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, produced from Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. 

*SMRs are age standardised death rates that allow mortality rates for areas with different age structures to be compared. ** Deaths which could be avoided by public health or primary care interventions

What else is happening? What else can be done?

Preventable deaths can be avoided by addressing the social conditions that lead to poor health, such as people’s prospects and opportunities; housing and environment; as well as behavioural and lifestyle changes. These are explored throughout this JSNA.

Health protection

 Why is this important?

Health Protection is a term used to cover a set of activities within public health. It is defined as protecting individual, groups and populations from single cases of infectious disease, incidents and outbreaks, and non-infectious environmental hazards such as chemicals and radiation. Monitoring health protection coverage helps to identify possible drops in immunity before levels of disease rise. 

Before the introduction of widespread immunisation and vaccinations, infectious and communicable diseases (that is, diseases that can spread from one person or living organism to another) were a major and widespread cause of death and permanent disability, especially among children. 

To stop the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and ensure herd immunity, it is important to maintain 95% vaccination coverage. Monitoring health protection coverage helps to identify possible drops in immunity before levels of disease rise. The Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of health protection and vaccination. Data on Covid-19 for this area was not yet available at time of writing this profile. 

What is the local picture? How does it compare? 

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted lives globally, affecting health directly and various other aspects indirectly. Many residents from Canley, like all other areas, were infected with COVID-19, with a total of 1,678 cases recorded between March 2020 and May 31, 2022. This figure represents a case rate of 300.9 per 1,000 residents, based on the 2021 Census population of 5,577, which is comparable to the overall city rate of 324.8 for the same period. We should be mindful when comparing the area’s case rate to other areas, these official cases do not represent all cases of course, not all people who had COVID-19 in this period will have taken a test or reported its result and some people were asymptomatic so were unaware they had the virus. Therefore, these figures do not count total prevalence, and it is difficult to conclude from differing case rates, it may be a result of different testing and reporting rates.   

Many people suffer from ongoing symptoms, from ‘long COVID’; while we don’t know how many Canley residents suffer from this and if it higher or lower than average, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated the prevalence of self-reported long COVID at 2.92% of all people living in private households in the UK in March 2023.

COVID-19 death rates amongst Canley residents were higher than the national average, Canley was amongst the higher-ranking areas of Coventry. Across Canley and Westwood Heath, 24 residents died with COVID-19 as the underlying cause between 2020 and 2022, out of a total number of 238 deaths from all causes. This translates to a death rate, the Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR), of 145.3 - an SMR above 100 indicates that this mortality rate is 45.3% higher than the national average after the age structure of the local population has been adjusted for.

Coventry delivered hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccines that protected many from severe illness or death and protected the health service. However, many remain unvaccinated, and vaccination rates are lower than the city average in Canley.  By December 2023, vaccine coverage for Canley residents aged 12 and older was 64.3% for the first dose and 57.5% for the second dose, compared to 68.1% and 63.3% respectively for Coventry as a whole. For those aged 65 and older, 89.5% had received the first dose and 88.8% the second dose, while in Coventry overall the coverage was 93.1% and 92.4% respectively.

The pandemic had many impacts, not all directly on residents’ physical health. The restrictions due to the pandemic and the lockdowns may have had an impact on different aspects of health and life. The ONS conduct an annual survey where they ask people about their personal wellbeing, it indicates increased levels of anxiety amongst Coventry’s population during the pandemic. The % who gave a score indicating high levels of anxiety increased from 20.6% in 2019/20 to 26.9% in 2020/21. Data on this for Canley residents can be read below.

Responses to questions in the Coventry Household Survey 2022 give indications as to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on people’s lives. People were asked how worried they were about the impact of COVID-19 on their financial situation, their diet, their mental health, their physical health, and their feeling of loneliness; on a scale of 0-10, those scoring 7 or higher are classed as ‘worried’ in the statistics quoted below.   The Household Survey data is only available by ‘MSOAs’, therefore the data in the paragraph below is based on a wider area ‘Canley & Westwood Heath’, and so is only an indication of feelings amongst Canley residents.

43% said they were worried about the impact on their physical health (Coventry overall 31%), 38% said they were worried about the impact the pandemic had on their financial situation (Coventry 40%), 23% said they were worried about the impact the on their mental health (Coventry 38%), 18% said they were worried about the impact on their feelings of loneliness (Coventry 28%) and 15% said they were worried about the impact the pandemic had on their diet (Coventry 22%).

Vaccination rates for key cohorts of people eligible to receive the annual seasonal flu vaccine are lower than the national average across Coventry overall. Indications are that in Canley rates across different cohorts are overall similar to the Coventry average, or very slightly lower. Seasonal flu vaccines help protect against the main types of flu virus circulating and are offered to a range at risk groups of people including children, people aged 65 and over and pregnant women. Flu vaccination rates in most groups that are eligible in Canley are lower than national average rates and some of them lower than the Coventry average and others higher.

Finding evidence for Canley residents is restricted to observing uptake rates amongst locally based GP practices, amongst the people registered there, so this data is just an indication of the picture for Canley residents. The vaccine uptake rates for this area’s GPs, for Coventry overall and England for 2022/23 can be seen in the table below.

Table: Flu vaccine uptake rates 2022/23 by cohort amongst people registered at local GP practices - % of eligible population receiving the vaccine

Source: ImmForm, UK Health Security Agency

In Canley, uptake rates for various childhood vaccinations remain below the desired 95% threshold and are mostly below the average for Coventry. Finding evidence for children living in Canley is restricted to observing uptake rates amongst locally based GP practices, amongst the children registered there, so this data is just an indication of the picture for Canley residents.

• DTaP/IPV/Hib Vaccination: For one-year-olds, the uptake of the DTaP/IPV/Hib vaccination, which guards against five serious childhood diseases, is 85.3%. These rates are below the city average of 90.3% and do not meet the 95% target.
• Rotavirus Vaccine: The uptake of the rotavirus vaccine, which protects against gastroenteritis in one-year-olds, is 87.2%. This is lower than both the Coventry city average of 88.5% and the national rate of 89.9%.
• MMR Vaccination for 2-Year-Olds: The MMR vaccination uptake for 2-year-olds is 87.0%, lower than Coventry's overall uptake rate of 88.5% and the national rate of 89.2%
• First Dose of MMR for 5-Year-Olds: The first dose MMR uptake for 5-year-olds is 91.3%, lower than both the city's average of 92.9% and the national rate of 93.4%.
• Second Dose of MMR for 5-Year-Olds: The uptake rate for the second dose of MMR in 5-year-olds are 82.0%, lower than those for the first dose. These rates are still lower than the city average of 84.6% and the national rate of 85.7%.
• -DTaP/IPV/Hib Vaccination for 5-Year-Olds: The uptake rate is 93.3%, which is above the city level 83.3% but still does not meet the 95% target.

Despite a declining trend, teenage conception rates in Coventry remain higher than the national average, and indications are that this is the case in Canley. In 2021, there were 18.6 conceptions per 1,000 people under the age of 18 for Coventry overall, higher than the England average at 13.1. Data for geographies smaller than Coventry overall are only available at ward level, not specifically for Canley. However, the ward in which most of Canley is located, Westwood, the red area in the south-west of Coventry shown in the map below, is one of the seven Coventry wards (out of 18 in total) with a rate significantly higher than the national average. However, the rate for Westwood ward is not significantly higher than the Coventry average.

Map: Under-18s conception in Coventry by ward, compared to England: three-year period between 2018 - 20

Source: Fingertips, data sourced from Conception Statistics, England and Wales, ONS

What else is happening? What else can be done?

Ensuring communities understand and trust public health messages, and that they are accessible and culturally appropriate is vital. Coventry has a very diverse and active voluntary and community sector with many small and well-connected groups, it also has many community leaders and “go to” people in local neighbourhoods. During the pandemic the Community Resilience Team created Community Messengers who consisted of existing faith, voluntary and community networks in the city. The number of messengers has now grown to 320. The messengers perform two main functions: -

• they help to disseminate into their community the “stay safe” messages.
• they collect and feedback community intelligence which is then used to influence a number of things such as improving our communication materials, focusing our interventions and deploying our local
  teams of COVID-19 advisors.

Young people were included through a partnership with The Positive Youth Foundation, a charity that supports young people in the Coventry area (and who chair the Coventry Youth Partnership), and a series of focus groups held with young people and the council’s communications team helped the development of
specific messaging for young people, including several videos.

Community members now have a platform and a chance to participate directly in shaping how the council and communities engage with each other. This helps to facilitate a community-led response to communications and messaging surrounding several topics.

There is increasing recognition of the key role that places and communities play in our health. Community groups are best placed to address health challenges, because they are trusted and have the networks understanding and legitimacy to do so. Health and care providers need to shift to an ‘enabling’ leadership style, supporting communities to maintain their health and wellbeing by pooling engagement resources and helping to build capacity by sharing skills and facilities with the communities we serve. The One Coventry Plan is designed to work with our communities to ensure that they are able to address their health needs and to reduce inequalities.

Since 2021, Coventry was successfully awarded funding to deliver the Healthy Communities Together (HCT) programme.  This programme is funded by the National Lottery and aims to support local areas to develop effective and sustainable partnerships between the voluntary and community sector, the NHS and local authorities to improve health and wellbeing, reduce health inequalities and empower communities. 

Building on existing health and wellbeing infrastructures having a collaborative partnership approach, bringing together residents’ experience and partners’ skills and assets, should be taken to strengthen health and wellbeing in communities. An example of this is Vaccinating Coventry – a partnership group with membership from a range of council teams with a focus on improving vaccine uptake inequality across the city. While vaccine uptake across Coventry and Warwickshire has been good, early in the vaccination programme data started to reveal areas of Coventry with much lower uptake, particularly among minority ethnic groups and those living in more deprived areas. The work of the group is linked tightly with wider COVID-19 prevention inequality work, focused upon access to testing, understanding of and adherence to national guidelines.

Demand and access

Why is this important?

The demand for health and care services is expected to increase as the city’s population grows and ages. To manage this growth there is a need to shift the emphasis to proactive and preventative care. This means ensuring people have better general health regardless of where they live, requiring fewer visits to hospital and shorter stays if they need inpatient care; and remodelling urgent and emergency and planned care so that it can cater to the expected increase in demand.

What is the local picture? How does it compare?

Canley residents have less good access to primary care than people living in many other Coventry neighbourhoods, in that many don’t live as nearby to a GP practice, although the ratio of staff to patients at local practices is relatively good.   The maps below illustrate the Canley area and then wider Coventry, with locations of GP practices marked. In Canley there is one main GP practice, in addition one further GP branch practice; both located in the west of the area, near the edge of Canley. The darkest green areas on the map indicate locations within a three-minute walk from each GP, while the lightest yellow areas represent a 15-minute walk. Poorer than average access is illustrated; with large parts of Canley coloured in white, indicating that the people in these areas live more than a 15-minute walk away from their nearest GP, whereas the majority of Coventry neighbourhoods are less than a 15-minute walk away.  On the other hand, access to a GP is possible within a five-minute journey by car or public transport for most of the area, although this may rely on access to a car.  

The number of staff at locally based practices can also give some indication as to quality of access to primary care services. The ratio of GPs per 10,000 of the population is relatively good compared with other areas and the city in general, with 15.1 direct patient care staff per 10,000 patient’s and 11.4 full time equivalent staff (FTE) per 10,000. There are 11.0 direct patient care staff and 8.3 FTEs per 10,000 of the population for the city overall.

Maps: Locations of GP practices around the area of Canley, with walking distances highlighted

Data Source: Shape Place tool. Department of Health & Social Care

Overall, indications are that satisfaction with local GPs is relatively good compared with the city as a whole and nationally. Although, as in generally the case in many areas, there are indications that satisfaction with local GPs has reduced in recent years.  Using the latest GP survey data, we can establish patient satisfaction based on three key questions around overall experience, obtaining an appointment via telephone and satisfaction with appointment lead times. Trying to understand satisfaction amongst people living in Canley is restricted to observing survey responses amongst people registered at locally based GP practices, so this data is just an indication of the picture for Canley residents.

When asked ‘Overall, how would you describe your experience of your GP practice?’, 78% of respondents indicated that their experience was good or very good. This is slightly higher than Coventry overall and England (71%). However, like the general trend across Coventry and England, indications are that satisfaction has fallen in Canley, from 97% in the survey responses in 2019.

When asked ‘Generally, how easy is it to get through to someone at your GP practice on the phone?’, 60% of respondents indicated that it was easy or very easy. This is similar to the city average (59%) and above the national figure (50%), suggesting that it is easier to get through to their GP in this area than the national average.

When asked ‘How satisfied are you with the general practice appointment times that are available to you?’, 57% of respondents indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied, again similar to the city average (58%) and better than the national average (53%).

Pharmacy coverage in Canley, similar to GP services, in not as good in Canley compared to most other Coventry neighbourhoods. Access to pharmacies in Canley is challenging by walking, but they can be reached more conveniently by car or public transport. There is only one pharmacy located in Canley, and this is not located centrally in the area. The darkest green areas on the maps below indicate locations within a three-minute walk from each GP, while the lightest yellow areas represent a 15-minute walk. Poorer than average access is illustrated; with large parts of Canley coloured in white, indicating that the people in these areas live more than a 15-minute walk away from their nearest pharmacy, whereas the majority of Coventry neighbourhoods are less than a 15-minute walk away from a pharmacy. 

Maps: Locations of pharmacies around the area of Canley, with walking distances highlighted

Access to the local hospital is also less easy for Canley residents compared to other parts of Coventry. Canley being in the west of Coventry compared to The University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire in the east of Coventry at Walsgrave, means local residents live further away from a hospital than most other residents of the city. The DHSC Shape Place tool, used for the maps above, illustrates that people living in Canley live about one hour away from the hospital by public transport.

Low levels of car ownership amongst Canley residents makes the distances to health services more of a barrier. A significant proportion of households in Canley have no access to a car or van, 43.3%, notably higher than the Coventry average of 27.6% and one of the lowest rates of car ownership out of all Coventry neighbourhoods.

What else is happening? What else can be done?

A social gradient approach focusing on people’s prospects and opportunities, housing and environment and lifestyle factors can help improve outcomes, reduce inequality and reducing premature mortality.

The citywide JSNA identified that a culturally competent approach that recognises and makes best use of the assets of the city’s diverse communities is essential. This includes working with local community and religious groups to encourage take-up of vaccination, diagnosis and screening programmes

​As part of the Adult Social Care Service, the council are working more closely with other organisations to improve the outcomes for adults. The Improving Lives programme is a partnership programme, led by Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System, bringing together University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust and the Council to work as one service. It aims to enhance patient experiences, prevent hospital admissions, and improve hospital discharge processes. The program focuses on effective care through three sub-programs: Interfaces, Hospital Processes at UHCW, and One Coventry Integrated Team. Its key goals are to promote independent living and simplify care delivery through partner collaboration.

Working together in partnership is vital to delivering services to residents. The Working Together Group; an alliance of CWPT, VSCE, and Primary Care in Coventry and Warwickshire, aims to strengthen partnership working within the voluntary, community, faith and not for profit social enterprise sector.

Healthcare pressures, particularly in rapidly growing areas, are a concern to residents in the area. As populations increase, local health services often struggle to keep up with rising demand. This leads to longer wait times, reduced access to primary care, and overburdened facilities, which disproportionately affects vulnerable groups such as the elderly, low-income families, and people with chronic health conditions. Addressing these pressures requires a multifaceted approach, including investment in healthcare infrastructure, hiring more medical professionals, and improving access to preventive care, especially in areas experiencing rapid population growth.

Lifestyles

Why is this important? 

Individual behaviours, such as eating enough fruits and vegetables, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity can affect health. These lifestyle behaviours are strongly influenced by the environment in which people live. For example, people living in a ‘food desert’, with limited access to affordable and healthy food, are more likely to eat unhealthily; an unsafe environment is likely to discourage people from walking or cycling; and social and cultural influences, including friendship groups, advertising and media, play an important role in determining people’s lifestyles. 

These lifestyle risk factors – poor diet, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking – are all linked to ill health and premature death. Having a combination of risk factors contributes to greater ill health. People facing poorer social circumstances are more at risk of having multiple risk factors, exacerbating avoidable differences in health. 

What is the local picture? How does it compare? 

The statistics in this section rely on MSOA level data, meaning figures are not available specifically just for the Canley area, rather data for a slightly wider area of Canley and Westwood Heath is used. As such the messages should be interpreted as only indicative of the picture in Canley.

The prevalence of smoking among Canley residents is substantially higher than Coventry as a whole.  26% of local respondents to the 2022 Household Survey said they are current smokers of tobacco products and 11% use e-cigarettes, compared to 11% and 7% for Coventry as a whole. This indicates one of the highest smoking rates of all Coventry neighbourhoods.

While survey data indicates that overall levels alcohol consumption is similar to average for Coventry, it causes disproportionate impact on health with high levels of alcohol related hospital admissions amongst residents. In the 2022 Household Survey, 31% of respondents indicated that they drink alcohol more than once a week, and of those who do drink, 30% consume more than 2 units at least twice per week. The city averages for the same indicators in 2022 are 25% and 24% respectively.

Alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to hospital admissions and deaths from a diverse range of conditions. The Hospital Standardised Admission Ratios (SARs) for alcohol-attributable conditions reveal that Canley has significantly higher hospital admissions compared to Coventry.  The table below shows rates of hospital admission due to alcohol related admissions, amongst Canley & Westwood Heath residents and for all Coventry residents, between 2016/17 and 2020/21, presented as Standardised Admission Ratios (SARs) (calculated to adjust for different age structure of populations). It shows SARs for numbers of admissions due to conditions that are ‘broadly’ alcohol attributable, including any health issue that can be partially or fully attributed to alcohol use, either directly or indirectly, and admissions due to conditions that are ‘narrowly’ alcohol attributable, a more specific subset of health conditions and diseases that are directly and primarily caused by alcohol consumption.

The SAR for hospital admissions due to alcohol-attributable conditions using the broad definition is 178.2 in Canley, compared to 134.9 in Coventry. For the narrow definition, the SAR is 185.4 in Canley, versus 132.8 in Coventry. These elevated ratios indicate that Canley's hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions are substantially higher than expected, reflecting a public health concern.

Table: Rates of admissions to hospital due to alcohol related conditions (defined in two ways, broadly and narrowly due to alcohol) by place of residence, 2016/17 to 2020/21

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) NHS Digital

While the importance of eating healthy food is recognised by the majority residents, survey data indicates there is room for improvement in aspects of the diet of Canley residents. Regarding the importance of healthy eating, 95% of Canley respondents agreed that it is important to eat healthily, similar to the city average of 93%. The percentage of residents who reported eating takeaways at least once or twice a week or more was 21%, lower than the Coventry average of 28%.

Survey respondents were also asked other questions about factors related to or impacting diet. When it comes to breakfast consumption, 54% of residents indicated that they eat breakfast every day which is lower than the Coventry average (78%). In terms of home cooking, 77% of Canley respondents indicated that they have everything they need in their kitchen to cook a meal, similar to the Coventry average of 81%. When it comes to the price of food as a factor in food purchase, 54% of Canley respondents agreed that it was the most important factor; this is lower than the Coventry average, 64%.

Survey data indicates that the proportion of Canley residents who don’t regularly engage in physical activity is similar to the Coventry average. The Coventry Household Survey 2022 asked residents about how often they take part in three different levels of intensity of physical activity, from the lowest intensive ‘everyday activity’ (such as active travel or gardening) to ‘active recreation’ (such as recreational walking or cycling), to the most intensive activity, sport participation. The following statistics are for responses from Canley & Westwood Heath.

8% indicated that they do not partake in any everyday physical activity, compared to the city average of 11%. 27% indicated they do not participate in active recreation, compared to the city average of 24%. 44% of respondents indicated that they partook in no sporting activity, compared to 41% for Coventry as a whole.

According to the latest National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) data for the three years covering 2019/20 to 2021/22, children in Canley, like those in the broader Coventry area, are becoming increasingly obese as they age. 9.3% of reception-aged children (4-5 years) in Canley are classified as obese, compared to 10.8% for Coventry overall. The data indicates that the rate of obesity in Canley increases in line with that of the city as children get older, perhaps even increasing by more. The latest data shows that 27.3% of children measured in school year 6 (aged 10-11 years) in Canley are obese, higher than the city average of 24.8%.

What else is happening? What else can be done?

Services in the area work well together to provide support and projects for vulnerable groups. Coventry Citizen’s Advice deliver projects to support people affected by Cancer. The Macmillan project delivers essential benefits advice services to people affected by cancer through a new model of integrated support, the Major Trauma project supports those in hospital who have suffered major trauma and the TB/HIV project is directed at individuals who have TB/HIV.

To address health inequalities and establish an environment that promotes and preserves good health, it is important to acknowledge that lifestyle factors are rooted in socioeconomic conditions. Canley has an abundance of groups working in the area to provide support to residents. It is important to continue to address access to affordable; lowering risky behaviours by changing social norms and connecting people to peer support groups, such as encouraging them to use health check services, sexual health check services, stop smoking services and improving their access to drop-in sessions for psychological therapy and child clinics in the neighbourhood.