Improve health and wellbeing
Increase in overweight children
2019/20 has seen an increase in the rate of overweight or obese children aged 10-11 in the city, a 2.3% increase to 40.6%. Covid-19 has resulted in delays to completing the national child measurement programme in 2020/21 – and completing this during the remainder of the school year is a priority. The Council is working with school nurses and health visitors to support to children and families around healthy eating, being active and wellbeing; including supporting healthy behaviours alongside the buggy workout programme for new mums.
During Covid-19, services were adapted, including running live activity and fitness sessions over Zoom; working with schools to provide activities and online sessions; and, when restrictions were relaxed, outdoor face-to-face sessions in-line with government guidance.
The Go Parks challenge, focused on increasing the activity levels of pupils, teachers, and families, saw with excellent results. British Cycling have also delivered sessions with community centres and family hubs during the Easter break and have further sessions arranged with schools across the summer holidays.
Smoking status amongst mothers at time of delivery
Smoking status amongst new mothers at time of delivery for Coventry in 2019/20 has remained consistent to last year and is statistically similar to England’s.
In 2019/20, over 300 women sought support from stop smoking services to quit, with 133 who achieved abstinence by the time of delivery. Although the prevalence of smoking has been reducing, the number of women achieving abstinence from cigarettes at time of delivery from a stop smoking service has remained consistent over the last few years. During Covid-19, services moved to an online model of delivery and carbon monoxide verification was paused in line with national guidance. The service saw a significant increase in reaching ‘hard-to-engage’ pregnant women and their family members to quit smoking during this time.
As part of the local maternity and neonatal system across Coventry and Warwickshire, University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) will be leading on embedded stop smoking in pregnancy services in maternity. They will work alongside community stop smoking services ensuring a robust offer for pregnant women and their families to quit smoking.
Slight increase in diabetes prevalence recorded
There were 29,142 people with diabetes registered with GP practices in Coventry in 2019/20. This has increased by 996 cases, from 28,146 in 2018/19. As a percentage, this is an increase from 6.7% to 6.8% of the GP registered population.
While the prevalence of diabetes in Coventry remains below England and West Midland levels, it has continued to see a gradual rise year on year. Our population health data, demographics and relative deprivation all indicate that Coventry is most probably under-reporting the level of diabetes in the city – meaning that people with diabetes in the city may not be getting the help they need.
The pandemic has had an effect on the ability of the health system to record and support people with diabetes – as routine primary health care work, including health checks, and opportunistic screening were paused; and to date, has not been fully restored as the health system continues to deal with the backlog of unmet health care demand.
This has also significantly impacted on the care delivered to people with diabetes – with just over half (55.2%) of people with type 2 diabetes receiving all eight care processes – meaning that more people will not have received the screening to detect complications of diabetes during the pandemic.
The reduced detection of diabetes, late presentations, and the impact of Covid-19 on people with diabetes receiving their annual review and eight care processes has the potential to adversely impact on the health of our population for a significant time.
Increase in percentage of late HIV diagnoses
The national Sport England active lives adult survey indicates 61.9% of adults in Coventry were physically active in 2019/20. Fewer adults are physically active in Coventry than the West Midlands Region (63.1%) and England (66.4%). This survey took place before the pandemic and therefore does not consider the changes in patterns of behaviour due to the pandemic and associated lockdowns.
There has been a slight increase in the percentage of late HIV diagnoses from 52.8% in 2016-18 to 54.1% in 2017-19. However, the overall count has reduced from 47 to 40, as fewer HIV diagnoses were made overall. Evidence suggests HIV testing coverage has increased in the past few years and the number of new HIV (positive) diagnoses are coming down. Despite this, Coventry remains a high prevalence area for HIV, when compared with other areas in the West Midlands.
Local data suggests that there has been a significant decrease in the number of individuals accessing HIV testing in pharmacies during the pandemic. To compensate this, the online national HIV test ordering service has been promoted to ensure residents can continue to access HIV tests. In 2020/21, 405 individuals accessed a HIV test from the online service. The Council will recruit new pharmacies to deliver HIV testing in 2021/22.
6 in 10 adults are physically active
The national Sport England active lives adult survey indicates 61.9% of adults in Coventry were physically active in 2019/20. Fewer adults are physically active in Coventry than the West Midlands Region (63.1%) and England (66.4%). This survey took place before the pandemic and therefore does not consider the changes in patterns of behaviour due to the pandemic and associated lockdowns.
Lockdowns and restrictions associated with the pandemic shifted physical activity
A national survey with around 2000 adults (16+) undertaken via Sport England indicates that during the first national lockdown (March to May 2020), when many activities were unavailable, large numbers of people were walking, cycling, and running – despite worries about leaving home – and working out at home to stay active.
As restrictions eased (May-September 2020), physical activity levels held; but as other parts of society reopened, the number of people active on most days (five or more days a week) declined, and the number active on some days (1-4 days per week) increased, compared to the first lockdown.
As restrictions resumed in September to January, and the weather turning and the rule-of-six and regional tier system introduced, the number of people active on most days fell lower by October, despite stable participation in most activities.
During the third national lockdown, physical activity levels were unchanged – with many other activities unavailable, walking and cycling for leisure have increased, as has activity taking place at home.
Early, provisional results from the Coventry household survey 2021 conducted in February 2021 suggest that three quarters of residents spent some time on active recreation – with half of residents spending at least an hour a week on active recreation. This has increased from the previous household survey in 2018.
Fewer admissions to hospital due to childhood injuries
The city’s Early Help Strategy identified preventing childhood accidents as one of ten key outcomes. A task group, with representatives from the Council, fire service, midwifery, and voluntary sector organisations, have worked to highlight accident hotspots in the household and help advise practitioners on practical steps to help families take on preventative measures.
There has been a reduction in hospital admissions caused by injuries in children aged 0-14, with the rate per 10,000 reducing from 184.9 in 2018/19 to 138.1 in 2019/20.
Due to school closures associated with the pandemic, children have spent more time at home. Figures are expected to show an increase due to increased exposure to potential household harms and domestic abuse. Additionally, face-to-face workshops run by MAMTA to support migrant families to access childhood accident prevention resources were suspended during the pandemic, meaning there may be more families unaware of the support and resources available.
There are a few organisations who carry out home safety checks, so it is not surprising if a household receives multiple visits from different professionals. The group is looking to map existing safety checks to better align the support and advice offered. Partnering with Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), the group is exploring the use of pictorial and multi-lingual resources to spread accident prevention messages to families who do not have English as a main language.
Increase in conceptions to under-18s
Provisional data for October 2018 to September 2019 suggests an increase in the under-18 conception rate to 22.7 per 1,000 girls aged 15-17 in Coventry. This contrasts the data for West Midland Region and England which both show a reduction to 18.6 and 15.9, respectively.
The increase in the under-18 conception rate marks a reversal of a decade-long trend whereby the city’s under-18 conception rate has fallen from a peak of 68.1 in 2008.
Cycle training for children and adults
Over the summer holidays in 2020, free training was available for children at leisure centres with British Cycling. All sessions were free for Coventry residents and Go CV card holders. All the sessions were delivered in small groups with social distancing in line with the government guidance at the time.
Free cycle training sessions for adults were also available at Xcel Leisure Centre and the Canal Basin where you could learn to ride, develop your skills away from traffic or build your confidence riding on the road.
Better cycling experience
Working with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the Council introduced active travel schemes over the summer months, responding to the additional demand for walking and cycling within the city. Pop-up cycle lanes, wider pavements and bike share schemes are amongst some of the measures introduced to encourage more people to cycle and walk when moving around the city.
Above: West Midlands cycle hire scheme, and wider pavements and dedicated cycle lane on Hollyfast Road.